No need for Mercenaries
by Cemalidor
Summary: What happens if the gang does some unwilling dimensiontraveling?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo is a trademark of Pioneer and AIC. The same count for the characters from Tenchi Muyo.

Battletech and Mechwarrior are Trademarks of Whizkids. The same count for the ´Mech- and Shiptypes and names.

The Mechpilot´s are taken from a GURPS/Mechwarrior Crossover RPG-Session we were running and belong to us ;)).

Tenchi FanFic „No need for Mercenaries"

Crossover Tenchi – Battletech/Mechwarrior

Warning: May contain some violence and coarse phrases, might not be suitable for children.

_AN:_

_Edited on Oct, 16__th__ 2014_

_Removing an extremely annoying typo in this chapter, thx to Eisenstein for pointing out. And yes, I decided that the Enterprise series is known in this 'veres, so the reference remains. ;)_

_The mentioned fly-zapper is a reference to the manga. _

_Also changed the type of the later used Tank, kudos here to cko2 for alerting me upon my error._

Introduction/Chapter OneAboard Comstar Union-Class Dropship "Trident"

_30. March 3058, 18:00 Terran Standard Time_

_Deep Periphery, Starsystem DXV-37Z._

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, please be seated", Captain McIntyre said as he entered the briefingroom. After a pause, in which he sorted his plans and memos, he looked up again to the five people who were awaiting his speech. "As you all know, we have provided some scouting for a major counterattack of the Innersphere, respectively the new founded Star League against the clans. This action is coded as ´Operation Serpent´ and plans not more than to find a way to the homeworlds of the clans and fight them there. "

Nothing new so far, I thought and spared a glance to the other four members of our "special lance".

The "Swordfish", the second _Union-Class_ Drop ship1 of our Taskforce from the Star League Defense Forces carried a full veteran mercenary company of 12 Battlemechs and two aerospace fighters, while our "Trident" was housing some support units, like tanks, additional two heavy aerospace fighters and two infantry companies, mostly anti-tank soldiers with heavy weapons. That 'Support' also included our oversized lance, pretending to be some kind of mercenaries our self. Our unit, which consisted of _five_ ´mechs, was a special asset.

Not only that we fielded 4 clan Omnimechs (2 _Timberwolves__2__,_ a _Man O' War__3_and my_ Nemesis__4_, some prized 'mechs we gained quite a while ago in a most successful raid against the clans), we also had some remarkable pilots in our ranks.

William Riker (an odd name for a Kurita5, but he was from Rasalhage and his family had some strange ideas) was a covert action special operative from the Draconis DEST6 and a wizard with explosives in all variations. Also he was able and willing to ´persuade´ the strongest captives to share their knowledge with us. Legendary were his plainfaced, reasonable sounding offers to perform an instant appendectomy with the shaft of his fold-up spade on the intended ´victim´ in the sometimes-usual bad cop/good cop game. Furthermore he was one of the few DEST´s who were trained to fight in a ´mech, so he had no problems to pretend being only a mechwarrior. Only his deadly close combat abilities may have betrayed his claiming, but only to those who know where and how to look. Also he was a master of disguise and camouflage and could have worked as a stage actor for sure.

Thomas Mc´Garry was a skilled mechwarrior from the arenaworld Solaris VII, where he had fought quite successfully (gaining the 6th place in the ranking list for a while), before he had to "leave" after a brief disagreement with his stableowner. His `mech was a now highly modified Hatchetman7, which incorporated the triplestrength myomersystem8 and a mace as melee weapon, which was able to deliver an incredible amount of damage in combination with the myomersystem. This supports his favorite combat style to close in after the enemy got some battle damage and fight it out, even in the light that he got the lightest 'mech in our unit. The remaining weapons were also replaced by a clan mixture, so that his ´mech was deadlier than ever. Also Thomas was adapted to enough close combat styles to make most of the mudstompers go green with envy. I think he might be only surpassed by William and me. His mixture of skills and command abilities earned him the leadership of our command. Even being our designated chief, he knew enough to stand aside when it came to a field where William's or my specialty laid. Maybe someday he will even forgive me for playing a kind of Kobayashi Maru test on him once by manipulating the simulators, leaving me at the better end of the fight.

The origins of the slender, fragile looking Virginia O´Connor remained a mystery (even though I got a few interesting glimpses), but she showed herself as an even better mechjockey than Thomas. Personally I thought that most of her sometimes-bullying personality was to compensate her small size. Unfriendly questions how she managed to climb in that awfully big `mech were instantly muffled by the two heavy _Sternsnacht_-pistols she was wearing all the time. Her skills within her ´mechs were more than enough to nullify her other ´shortcomings`, however grave they might be. Meanwhile it didn't roll up my toenails anymore to hear her stating, "I'm a mechwarrior and not a damned mechanic", after an extensive fight, when it came to do some field repairs. Her ´mech combat abilities nevertheless were on a level, which I could not hope to reach within the next two or three decades.

Alicia Mc´Fury was an entirely different matter. According to her official personal file she was a Davion Mechjockey from the Terran corridor, with a magic touch for old Star League9 inheritances. But my own instincts didn't swallow that. Alicia was for my taste way to alert. She seemed to have her eyes everywhere sometimes and was unusually well equipped. Also a veteran in a 'mechs she was technical adapted enough to keep her machine going, even under rough circumstances. On the other hand my secret connections informed that she spied out my first secret ID and was about to scratch on it. I hoped so far that she wouldn't succeed in going deeper, because if she did I had to take steps against that. Which I would regret in a professional way, because I sensed a related soul in her. Interestingly my own investigations about her heritage were stopped by a kind request from Comstar to hold it. An absolute hobby of her was to get every possibility for a swim. Whenever she got an opportunity she completely soaked herself in a lake or river for she was an excellent swimmer. Sometimes I personally mused about she might got webs between her fingers and toes.

Which leaves my person at the last. My personal file profiled me as another Kurita mechpilot, with a superior computer education and a technician grade. My first buried fake ID stated me as an official DEST operative (amusingly the ID was granted by the DEST, which left the question if it is a fake now anymore), but the truth was that I was included, unknown to the others, on a personal request and suggestion of the coordinator Theodore Kurita10 himself. In the light that the Draconis Combine provides the most ressources for the Comstar Explorercorps (excluding ships) who was running this campaign, there was no surprise that I was allowed to join. While quite professional in a ´mech, my playgrounds were computers and other electric and electronic devices plus some more, profound skills. These skills played us a high benefit in the past (not only in the mentioned raid) and I was confident to keep it this way.

"Our current mission," Colin McIntyre resumed his speech, "however, is a little more specific, not only because we have been reshaped into a SLDF11 Unit. We are a little off the presumed ´Exodus Road´ and are ordered to do some deep reconnaissance. An earlier Comstar probing in this binary star system gave signs of a small, possibly hostile, base on this little dirtball, called ´TZ-908´, we are approaching. ´TZ-908´ is a planet only a little smaller than the Terran standard, which gives him a gravity of about 0.92 G. Also it is rich of minerals, has large, heavy woodlands and the resulting climate. So far we have no further valuable information of what they scanned, so it might even be a clan outpost instead a pirate base. Even if it proves to be no threat, this possibility of a compromising for ´Operation Serpent´ can't be ignored. The OP12 requires launching both our Dropships. The "Swordfish" is about to go in first and will land about 20 klicks southeast of the supposed area of the base. Our landing zone is going to be a little more off the base, in order to trap units who might be out in the field. Nevertheless, you know the first law in warfare is Murphy's, so be prepared to change your mission's objectives. Any questions so far?"

After raising his hand, Thomas asked, "How large are the expected enemy forces?"

Our mission officer answered. "We presume, on the extension of the base, the equivalent of a garrison class nova or an understrenghed company plus possible a Union-class Dropship. There might be some miscalculating, but not much, so we will have the superiority in ´mechs plus the two fighter lances we keep in reserve for air strikes."

He smiled. "You are not expected to take out the entire base alone again", which earned him some omnious, innocent-looking glances.

"Well", I replied, "it's not our fault, if the others are unable to keep up with our pace and ...aah... determination, is it?"

McIntyre reacted with an amused snort. "You might put it this way if you like, but remember, it's curiosity that kills the cat," he said.

After a brief smile of my own I countered, "I thought it's the early bird, which gets the worm?"

"Whatsoever", McIntyre cut the matter. "It might interest you that our techs were able to incorporate some of the targeting computers, which we sacked from the last clan base into your `mechs. That should give an extra edge against your enemies. You are losing some of your offensive capabilities, but the greater accuracy of the rest is more than enough to even that out, plus the major modifications we did in Base-One's ´mech lab before we left. Furthermore, your Omni's have been configured for this mission exclusively with energy-based weapons and additional double heat sinks, which will keep you longer in the field without the need to resupply. Also Senior Mastertech Pfeiffer was able to fix the problem with your damaged Beagle probe13, Lieutenant Riker. So you will be predestined to sniff out any possible hidden enemy units. Also you should remember that the mineral richness of the planet leaves your MAD14 nearly useless. The expected range will be about only 400 meters.

Also your sight will be limited by these heavy woods, if our opponent wants to try to hide, which I would bet for. As you can see, the woods are really large. Not as enormous as the Amazonian, but it seems to be thicker and big enough to get lost. In the light of this, TacCon has provided two operational plans for your `star`. Mentioned plan ´Abel` will be carried out if we find a pirate base downwards. In this case you are supposed to smoke everyone who gets away from our strike teams. Plan ´Baker` is for the possibility that we really stumble across a clan outpost. Then your additional firepower might be more than welcomed. Your callsigns will be from Delta One to Delta Five. It's nothing we are not able to perform, but remember Murphy." He smiled, "Be prepared for the unexpected, as usual. Our old ´Vanguard´ (which was our civilian Starlord15 class Jumpship) will transit within the next three hours with loaded batteries. If we find something real unpleasant at our intended pirate's jumppoint, we will simply hop away. In the other case our OP continue with a nice, little two G flight downwards ´TZ-908´ for a little surprise attack", which earned him some groans, especially from little Virginia. "Our jumppoint places us right in the neighborhood of the planet, so you shouldn't be tormented too long. On the downside of this is that we don't have that much forewarning, but so do our enemies. But as I said before, no unnecessary, foolhardy actions got it?"

William plain faced as usual replied: "Hai, Captain-sama. We will stay close only to necessary, foolhardy actions."

Captain McIntyre instantly rolled up his eyes in a, not only played, pain attack. „You guys are the last nails to my coffin", he stated with an excessively sad looking face.

We all knew each other by now long enough to provide some distractions to ease the tension before an impending campaign. A Battlemech might carry more than 20 tons of Armor, but a single, wellplaced shot can have grave consequences for the unlucky pilot. In the 31st century ´mechs were expensive, but life, even of its pilot's, was cheap.

"Any further Questions?" Captain McIntyre asked a last time, sobering. "OK then. Dismissed."

After we left the briefing, Virginia closed up to me and asked, "What about your promised Japanese and German language lessons for me?"

"I fear they will have to wait a little longer, but you should be able to train alone a little more. It might be a solution even to try _think_ Japanese or German", I suggested.

"Do you think? " Virginia replied doubtfully. "Uhm, well let's give it a try... _Baumkuchen... Baumkuchen... Baumkuchen..._"

Laughing I couldn't suppress a "Baka" to her as we proceeded to the crew's canteen for a fast supper before we had to prepare our belongings and the 'mechs.

_Meanwhile in a completely different place, in a galaxy far, far away._

"Personally I think it's a great idea to take a short vacation", Tenchi said to Mihoshi. "The only thing that bothers me in the whole matter is that it includes the usage of a device Washu-chan just newly invented out of the blue."

"Geez, Tenchi. Don't you have any confidence into the greatest scientific genius of the universe?" a voice from behind him demanded to know.

"Uuh, well..." spreading a large sweatdrop Tenchi tried to explain, as he slowly turned to the little person with that funny, crab-like-looking hairdo. "I would be much happier if you were able to do some more tests with this gadget of yours before using it on us."

Carefully he did not mention the fly-zapper, which Washu had built lately. The device had functioned well, until Ryoko had floated into its reach yesterday during her usual afternoon nap. Programmed to engage flying objects the RX-78 had tried to do what it was build to do. The resulting chaos, which was too fresh in his memories, made him secretly itching. He knew that Washu was trying to be helpful most of the time, but sometimes her creations had the fatal tendency to create disaster.

"Look at it this way Tenchi", Washu lectured. "Due the notorious money shortage within this household, this is the best and inexpensivest method for all of us to get a highly deserved break."

"Well, at least deserved for the most of us", Ryoko supplemented with a side look on Galaxy Police Officer Mihoshi.

"And with my newly developed Solargenerator we even didn't need to use electricity from the house" Washu closed without reacting to her daughters statement.

"Oh, so far no problem with me", Tenchi rushed to insist. "It only bothers me that you didn't do more field tests with that teleportdevice you constructed."

A still scorched smelling Ryoko, who stud nearby revolted, "What should happen? Not more than her usual catastrophes. Most of her creations seem to have the single purpose to create even greater havoc through the galaxy."

"Amen to that", Aeka's voice came from the door. She concluded with a nasty, little smile, "But this seems not only to be right to her mechanical offsprings."

This was enough to start a new fight between them immediately. Fortunately at this moment Sasami came from the kitchen, Ryo-Ohki riding on her head as often. Her "Supper is ready" ended the fight before Washu had to use her mallet. Nevertheless Tenchi wasn't able to end his gnawing concern about the trip they were about to start tomorrow afternoon.

1 Spheroid innersphere Transport ship, for traffic ship to ship or to/from planet. No jump capacity (interstellar travel).

2 Also named Mad Cat (innersphere), a 75 tons Battlemech.

3 Also named Gargoyle (innersphere), an 80 tons Battlemech.

4 Also named Thor (innersphere), a 65 tons Battlemech.

5 Inhabitant of one of the minor Powers in the so-called innersphere. Rasalhage is a former provinces of the Draconis Combine.

6 Draconis Combine Elite Storm Trooper.

7 Innersphere Battlemech, 65 tons. One of few types equipped with a melee weapon as standard.

8 Special synthetic muscles that have a higher strength than normal myomer 'mech muscles.

9 Historical Star nation, containing nearly all of from Terra settled colonies.

10 Leader of the Draconis Combine/Kurita.

11 Short for Star League Defense Forces.

12 Operation Plan

13 A special sensor system to counter ECM.

14 Magnetary Anomaly Detector, here a system to the scan for metals/alloys.

15 Jump ship for interstellar Travel, able to transport up to eight Drop ships.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN:_

_Edited on Oct, 16__th__ 2014_

_Fixed some grammatical issues for the convenience of the readers. _

Chapter TwoAboard Comstar Union-Class Dropship "Trident"

_31. March 3058, 12:00 Terran Standard Time_

Deep Periphery, approaching Planet TZ-908

Sitting in my 'mechs cockpit, the only thing I could do was waiting while being pushed into the pads of my seat from the decelerating of our "Trident" after passing the turn-over point. I tried to compensate the exhaustion of the stress by doing some meditation. Earlier, before the jump, we had moved our 'mechs into the dropping tubes. The transit our old 'Vanguard' provided was as smooth as possible. But the troubles started immediately after that. Our jumppoint wasn't empty as it should have been.

A little unarmed _Tramp__1_-class jump ship was _merely_ 5 klicks off our position. The combat patrol of our two _Chippewa__2_ Fighters which was launched directly after our rematerializing had no other choice than to attack and cripple it with the support from the pair of _Union's_ that had only started a little later and the remaining fighters after it refused to surrender, before it could withdraw in an emergency jump.

The intended destroying of a jumpship provided a sour taste, because there were not so many of them left and in the history it was forbidden to be attack them, even in the toughest battle. Our mission profile however left us no choice but to do it. Nevertheless, before being destroyed in a failed try to jump anyway after getting extensive damage, it was able to send a warning to its comrades on the planet.

After we sorted the puzzle with our ship sensor readings in the approach, it seemed that there _was_ a clan outpost on TZ-908, but that it had been raided by a pirate band with an aged _Overlord__3_ and a company of 'mechs. Due to their surprise attack they had been able to cripple the clan _Union C_-class4 on the ground into need of large repairs, but not without getting their own dropship damaged severely. The 'mechfights had been even crueler, for the clans had an absolute hate for pirates and the 'cowardice' of a sneak attack did the rest to set them on edge.

Without a functional dropship the pirates were unable to retreat and had no choice but to fight. In losing half of their 'mechs and damaging the rest, they were able to destroy two of the five clan 'mechs and most of the powerarmored clan infantry, called 'Elementals' (nicknamed 'Toads') which speaks for their combat abilities. In the aftermath the surviving mauled clan forces had retreated into the woods, seemingly to regroup.

Our problem now was that we had _two_ enemy forces at hand, none of them to eager to see us, and no chance for the intended surprise attack. That led to some last minute changes in our plans. The company from the "Swordfish" was assigned to go after the remaining clan forces, while it would be our job to hunt down the rest of the pirates, which were chasing the rest of the clan garrison. The problems that we would have with the sensors wouldn't help either. But our opponents would suffer the same restrictions, what could lead to a merry hunt, which might continue for days, even weeks. The "Trident" would set for the nearly undefended base after dropping us and unload our infantry contingent with the tanks to take the remaining of the tattered outpost.

My look wandered above my safely stored equipment within the cockpit. Most of it was devices or weapons I didn't really expect to need, but I've learned my lesson early: that it's easier to spare something you brought along, than to anger about something you placed aside. As long it's reasonably transportable and you have enough storage, carry on.

An old metaphor out of one of my books ran through my mind: Watch your six, spare your ammunition and don't deal with dragons. Well, in some aspects we were working for the dragon, the Draconis Combine. So there should not been any problems from there, I resumed with a smile.

Via Intercom I received a message from Virginia. "It's bloody good to be on the way into fight and kick some asses again before rusting into uselessness, but has it to be this way?" she asked with a pained undertone in her voice. "If I would be sado-masochistic by birth, I would already joined those fighter jockeys", she huffed. Thomas, being our commander replied instead of me, "Virginia, we know that it's hard, especially for you to withstand those two G's. We are only another two hours from landing, so I fear you will have to stand it a little longer. It's not so that you are going through this for the first time, right?"

"The bloody hell you're right, but that doesn't mean that I must enjoy it, being squashed into strawberry jelly, does it?" Virginia answered.

I couldn't help it, but to insert, "Of course not Virginia-chan." Slyly I concluded in German, "Du bist nicht halb so genießbar, wie du sein müßtest um eine vernünftige Marmelade abzugeben."

After a silence of some seconds she flared, "Keiichi, you little sick bastard. I will get your ass for this."

Under laughing I shot back: "Surely, right after you found someone who holds the ladder for you to get there."

The resulting roaring laughter continued for some seconds 'til we sobered up again. After another remarkable dull hour we were contacted from the bridge to get our last mission updates and downloaded them into our computers.

After some considering of the latest plans and maps, Thomas resumed. "Upon the new scans it seems, that the pirates had really left the base almost defenseless. They pulled off all their 'mechs after the clans and they are altogether at least two days away from the base. What remained are three infantry platoons with some support weapons. No match for our boys with the support from their tanks. Hmm.. It seems that the pirates lost the direct contact to the clan forces, they got at least 40 klicks away. That means we should worry only about that six more or less damaged 'mechs and won't be caught in a crossfire. On the downside is that the woods are really massive. Jesus, there are some monsters of tree which are almost 90 meters high with the resulting diameter." "What a pity that it's nearly nine months 'til Xmas", Alicia joked. "Looks like we are missing the possibility to get a really amazing tree this year."

"Somehow my intuition tells me that our honorable Captain wouldn't approve the notion to get his bay filled with an oversized Xmas tree", William declined.

"And if he should, you would have to spend a fortune for the tinsel and the globes", I assisted.

After an other short, omnious pause Virginia stated adamantine: "I'm going to strangle anyone with his own guts, who insists to use me as a Christmas angel on top of that stupid tree, got it?"

"Cool down everybody", Thomas ordered. "Let's better do a last check before readying for atmospheric reentry. Keiichi, what's about our scramblers?"

"No sweat, boss", I replied, while checking my instruments. "I have chosen a special encoding algorithm with a build-in compress/decompress function. They might get something over the com if they are lucky, but I guarantee that they won't be able to decode anything, thanks to the new equipment we got. The shortness of our impulses will also hinder any attempt to locate us. The same I've done to our field communicators, which was a little trickier due their small size. ... OK commander, all system checks are done. Delta 5 reports final readiness and stands by."

One after another Virginia (Delta 4) in her _Timberwolf_, Alicia (Delta 3) in her _Man o' War_ and William (Delta 2) in the last _Timberwolf_ reported their status after checking their machines. So Thomas gave a last message to the bridge, "TacCon, Delta Star is green and standing by for drop."

_Only a little earlier at the Masaki household._

After getting their backpacks the Masaki household, with the exception of Grandpa and Noboyuki, assembled at Washu's latest invention.

"Look's really weird", Ryoko said to Aeka, who seemed to be likewise unsure. The machine was a strange sight with all that cables and extensions around.

"Don't be so rude, Ryoko", Sasami insisted, cuddling Ryo-Ohki. "I'm sure Washu-chan did her very best to enable us our vacation."

"It always makes me grateful, that at least one person is able to pay tribute to my working", Washu said as she closed up to the gathered group. Interestingly enough her rucksack was floating behind her in the air. Obviously it was under her dignity to act as a beast of burden, even for herself and had done something about it.

"This is, as said before, my latest invention. It's an Nspace-folding Transporter device with a remote control, so I'm even able to operate it after the portal has closed after we got where we want to go. It's completely foolproof but conceptually spoken state-of-the-art. I don't want to bother you with technical explanations that you won't be able to understand, but this is one of my masterpieces. I've loaded the accumulators through the last days fully with the Solargenerator, so we have plenty of energy for our travel. If I would have used a normal plug our next electricity bill would have been marvelous. I've planned so far to visit different places, so each of us will get what he or she wants, earlier or later. That's OK so far?"

After a collective nodding, Washu continued. "For the first, what's about a little swimming at the ocean coast? I propose that we split our vacation into smaller bits, so we will be able to sleep at home, if we really want." With a little, affectionate smile to Sasami she said," But that doesn't mean that we have to. A small night camping out in the open might be adventurous, what do you think?"

Meanwhile in her back Mihoshi was examining the backside of the machine closer, full of excitement. With huge eyes she was watching every detail around. It wasn't really her fault, that she didn't see the wrench that lay forgotten on the panel. After looking at a small part on the bottom she stretched.

Unfortunately, her left hand touched the tool, sending it spinning down within the device. Worse, it directly went for the accumulators, short-circuiting them. Fail-safes tried to intervene, but it was too late and there was too much energy. So the machine did with full power in a twinkling burst what it was build to do, and the whole party left in a blinding flash of light.

1 Jump ship for interstellar Travel, able to transport up to two Drop ships.

2 Innersphere Aero-/Space fighter, 100 tons.

3 Spheroid innersphere Transport ship, for traffic ship to ship or to/from planet. No jump capacity (interstellar travel).

4 Spheroid clan Transport ship, for traffic ship to ship or to/from planet. No jump capacity (interstellar travel).


	3. Chapter 3

_AN:_

_Edited on Oct, 16__th__ 2014_

_Included another suggestion Eisenstein made, kudos to him here._

Chapter ThreeAboard Comstar Union-Class Dropship "Trident"

_31. March 3058, 13:30 Terran Standard Time_

Deep Periphery, approaching Planet TZ-908

Below us the dropping tubes opened and my stomach seemed to like to visit my tonsils. A drop landing is always tricky for Battlemechs, but the altitude wasn't very high, a mere hundred meters and all of our 'mechs were equipped with jumpjets. Also we trained such maneuvers as often and thoroughly as possible, but these extended woodlands were a complication. This in mind we set for one of the bigger clearings. More or less simultaneously we were ejected from our Dropship and fired our jets. Not only to stabilize, but also to break the speed, which the "Trident" had given us along.

After a split second of disorientation I got my 'mech sorted and corrected my path down to the ground. The reactions from strict and merciless drills took place and the result should have made all our instructors proud. The "Trident" set scheduled course to the enemy base while we were descending. Only moments before reaching the ground an energy reading across my sensors caught my eyes.

"Power up detected. Approximated 80 klicks away, bearing one - six - five", I reported instantly while breaking my landing momentum with a sidestep.

"Yep, seen the same", Thomas replied landing himself. "But it's already gone again. What do you think? For a reactor explosion that was way too strong, wasn't it?"

Battlemech got their energy from little fusion reactors and despite all fail safes and other security measures, sometimes they explode when getting damaged too much. It might had been possible that a damaged 'mech from our opponent's got his final blow, but I didn't think so.

"Iie", I replied. "Such a reading over such a distance takes much more energy than even a collapsing 'mech reactor can provide. Maybe a reactor from a small base will be powerful enough, but so far I know there should be no base there. Although there seems to be a clearing, too," I added after consulting my maps. Confused I added. "But it was an unfamiliar reading, no neutrinos like you could expect from a blown reactor"

Even through our radio I could see Thomas biting thoughtfully on his lips. After some more seconds he reached a decision. While our 'mechs gathered around his _Hatchetman_ he spoke, "Ok guys, that's our plan. We advance to the point where we got those strange readings straight through the woods. It's in the extension of our planned path to intercept those pirates anyway so there aren't any larger changes, only some additional waypoints. Maybe there is something that's worth to being investigated. Any suggestions or objections?"

"Not a single, boss. As usual", Virginia concluded. "Let's get going I would say. I'm definitely dying to get some pirates finished", she added with her own enthusiasm. Obviously she had already recovered from our journey to the planet.

"Don't get overconfident" Thomas broke her. "Standard Wedge-formation, William you take the lead. Your Beagle probe will hopefully be our main advantage. Alicia, you take his left, I will be on his right side. Keiichi you are the right edge and Virginia will be the left. Space between us should be about 150 meters. We have our scramblers, but in the doubt to alarming our enemies with even small impulses, use for communication a powerreduced laser instead if possible. We haven't any clue what's going on there, but I will be damned if we don't find out. Let's move and make some way in the last four hours we have daylight."

Alicia sighed, "Times are tough. So much for my plan to find a nice, little pond and get a bath."

"Alicia, what would happen if you find a lake someday with some real LARGE fishes in it that might have a taste for human flesh?" William asked.

"Well, that's obvious", she smiled even over the com. "I will use the Yorkshire-technique on him."

"You will do WHAT?" I inserted dumbfounded.

She replied, "I will suffocate him by get wedged in his throat. Didn't you know that old joke where a Yorkshire-Terrier killed a Danish mastiff that way?" and burst in laughter.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_31. March 3058, about 14:30 Terran Standard Time_

Slowly Tenchi was recovering. All parts of his body seemed to hurt, even some he didn't know they could. After a few additional minutes he was able to sit up. The rest of the gang was still lying in the grass; only Washu and Ryoko were giving signs that they were about to wake up. Under pain he got to his feet to check the condition of the others.

After some looks it seems that they were more or less all right, only unconscious. Poor little Ryo-Ohki seemed to suffer the most. She was breathing only very flat. Turning he saw that Washu had gained her consciousness and moved over to her. Her eyes looked still unfocused but so far she seemed to be back.

"What's up Miss Washu? What went wrong?" he asked her.

"That's Washu-chan for you", she reacted almost absently. "I don't have the slightest shimmer of what has happen, Tenchi. But it's obvious that we aren't on Earth anymore", she continued, pointing up in the sky. Tenchi looked up and realized now that there were TWO suns in the sky.

"Also I'm missing some of body's mass", she carried on. "That indicates that this world is slightly smaller than Earth. But as I said, I really don't know where we've got."

Taking a look on her remote she swore. "Damned, I don't know where this place is, but I'm pretty sure we are a LONG way from home. My remote says that the space folder had lost all its energy, which should have done it for hundreds of transfers. It has started to recharge but that could take days. Nevertheless it seems to be alright so far", she said after a fast status check.

With a look around she concluded, "I might be able to speed up the process by collecting some extra energy through my remote control. But that would not help much without a proper power source. Perhaps it was an error not to include a secondary power supply from the house and/or a connecting to my lab, but it doesn't help to weep about spilled milk. I would say, I get my first aid kit from my backpack and we will have a look at the others." After an additional hour they more or less got a grip on them self to consider their options.

Only poor Ryo-Ohki remained nearly unconscious, while Ryoko was suffering from a terrible migraine. Even Washu looked a little disorientated, tormented too from a headache, which might have been caused by the link to her daughter. After a little discussion they decided to get shelter in they nearby woods and have an early supper out of their backpacks. Tomorrow they planned to go look after water and food supply, if possible. For today, all of them had enough and got to bed early.

Aeka, Tenchi and Mihoshi agreed to take night watches, just in case, for they were the most unharmed. Looking into the starry sky Tenchi sat on his watch in the night and wondered what the next day could bring.

_31. March 3058, 23:30 Terran Standard Time_

Deep Periphery, on Planet TZ-908

_Nightcamp of Delta-Star, waypoint Baker 5_

About four hours ago we agreed to pause for today and took a place, where we could rest after we had made about 60 kilometers. In order to be safe we ensured our 'camp' with some motion trackers and other sensors. Additionally we started a little fire.

Not only to deter a possible native fauna but also to cook our rations. After a fast supper we set watches and put the guard into his 'mech. I got the second shift, so now I was sitting there with a cold hate in my heart.

That fury sprung from some transmissions we received lately from the 'Swordfish'. Due the assistance of the fighters, our infantry and tanks were able to storm the base, or what had remained.

They were even able to save the most of the prisoners the pirates had landed unknowingly to us, but not all of them. The pirates had tried to murder them all, in order to leave no witnesses for their crimes. The fights around those 'slave quarters' within their _Overlord_ dropship were, accordingly to our buddies, brutal. Under the freed slaves were even _children!_

Despite all efforts the teams from 'Swordfish' were able to save 'only' about 100 people. Over 60 perished through the slaughter of the pirates. Silently I wished the clanners had eliminated some more of this scum before retreating.

Only twelve from the pirate band were caught alive, all of them before our strike teams learned the truth about the captives. In the aftermath our infantrymen weren't too eager to take prisoners. Not that they performed any war crimes. No, it was more that the pirate got shot faster than they could surrender.

From the messages we also knew that our colonel planned to immediately court martial for the rest of the band, so that the matter should be corrected before long. In my services for the Draconis Combine and my elders, I've taken enough actions, which wouldn't take me in the first place to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. But some things are plain unforgivable. Those beasts in human disguise were not even worth the bullet to be executed. I swore to myself, that when possible, I would make them pay personally. At full length. Possibly I would even borrow William's famous spade.

Taking a look at my watch, I saw that I had to last for another two hours. Forcefully I pulled myself free from these revengeful fantasies. Our plan for the next day was going to start at about 6 a.m.

Under a sigh I started to recalibrate my radio. The pirate forces we are going to chase were alert enough to encode their own radio traffic, but the code sucked. It took me only a quarter of an hour to break it and what we read from their messages and the bearings of them they had sped up their march bending their course.

They took a short break, mostly to make some provisional field repairs on their damaged 'mechs. The unit we were going to face consisted of a _Black Knight__1_, a _Dervish__2_, an _Archer__3_, a _Shadow Hawk__4_, and a pair of _Phoenix Hawk__5_'s. Also we learned that they brought a modified _Vedette__6_ tank along with additional infantry, likely to take more prisoners if possible and enslave them. Or at least to try it, since clan warriors didn't made good slaves.

Plotting their course and comparing it with ours, I let a silent whistle. Both lines would cross, after their last change of course, each other near the presumed place of this strange energy reading we got. After another minute of silent consideration I opened a channel to Thomas's com unit with a low energy level message, which would have a range of only 50 meters.

"Thomas? Sorry to bother you, but I think here is something you should have a look at... Yes, it might be urgent, but I'm not sure, so I don't want to stir up the others unnecessarily... Ok, I give you a copy as soon as you are in your 'mech... Yes, I will stand by and have a watch on their communications... No, no direct signs of any local predators with a certain hunger for humans so far. The perimeter of our merry little camp is untouched. A while ago I saw in the distance some animals, which could be a threat, but they kept a distance from which I was unable to verify their nature... Change of shift to Alicia would be in about ...aah... 90 minutes... Hai, I guess too, that it's the best to let the others sleep, unless something crucial happens."

1 An SDLF/innersphere Battlemech, 60 tons.

2 An innersphere Battlemech, 55 tons.

3 An innersphere Battlemech, 70 tons.

4 An innersphere Battlemech, 55 tons.

5 An innersphere Battlemech, 45 tons.

6 An innersphere Tank, 50 tons.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

AN: Edited on Oct 16th 2014 Got finally around to correct some annoying errors Eisenstein pointed out for me.Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_1. April 3058, about 7:40 Terran Standard Time_

Tenchi woke up with a sudden flinch. First he wondered about all the trees around, but only too fast he remembered the incidents from yesterday. With a little groan he stretched his aching muscles. The night had left its marks he thought while he tried to relax his shoulders. "Good morning, Sasami-chan. How are you?" he asked as he got on his feet.

"Good morning, Tenchi-nii-chan", the little jurain princess replied with a smile. "I'm fine and Ryo-Ohki has regained consciousness, but she is still so weak. Perhaps Washu-chan should have a look at her."

On the other side of their little 'camp' Ryoko came up with heavy groans. "If I hadn't got that terrible migraine, I'd said that this was a formidable April fool's Day joke", she said with half a smile. "My head is killing me. I even got problems to get a straight look."

"Then sit down again, Ryoko. I will try to fix a breakfast for us", Sasami said from Washu's side where she had carried the little cabbit. "I think, I should try an aspirin or something", Ryoko continued, following Sasami to Washu.

Meanwhile Aeka and Mihoshi also woke up. All together they had a not too pleasant night. After a delicious breakfast, which Sasami had prepared as usual, they start to talk about what to do.

Aeka inserted. "Did anyone else hear those distant thundering early this morning? I thought about a thunderstorm, but the sky is totally clear."

"Nothing to see so far of bad weather, but it would be wise to look out for a place which could provide a weatherproof shelter", Washu replied. "Nevertheless our first concern should be to find water. We have absolutely no idea were we stranded and have some days to cover until we can use the teleporter again. Also we may use my multi-detector to prove if the local flora and fauna might be edible for us."

"Maybe our princess here should try to occupy this world for Jurai", Ryoko stated, trying to be funny while pointing at Aeka, but the joke fell flat. However it was enough to start another of their 'discussions'.

After they cooled down, the whole gang agreed to proceed westward in order to find a better campsite. So they set off. Ryo-Ohki remained too weak, so Sasami carried her along. Ryoko was about to start floating into the air to get a better look what was ahead of them, as they heard some engine sounds and loud stomping from the far side of the forest clearing. After a minute or so they saw some people and a tracked vehicle, obviously a tank, coming out of the forest. Their uniforms seemed oddly inappropriate, even over this distance, but they were relieved to see other people, so they went to meet them.

"Delta 1, this is Delta 5, do you copy? I've sighted the scouts of the pirate's; they came out of woods with their _Vedette_ left from me. Also I got solid readings of at least of two of their 'mechs and the rest should be nearby. But I think we have a little trouble here. There seems to be some civilians around, at least half a dozen." "Keiichi, if you trying to be funny, this a most unsuitable moment for an April fool's Day joke", Thomas instantly replied angry.

"Negative, boss", came Virginia to my help. "I'm about 200 meters left of Keiichi and I can see them too. They are wearing partially real strange clothes and the most of them definitely seems to be female. If it wouldn't sound completely idiotic, I'd say they look some kind of tourists or something in that direction."

"Hold your positions, we are approaching", our commander ordered under curses.

As the Masaki gang closed to the people, which have appeared out of the woods, they saw that the most of them were armed, and wearing some sort of armor. Interestingly those guys seemed to be nervous, because they were constantly looking around. Also they were in a condition that indicated that they were some days out in the field. "I've got a real bad feeling about this guys all of a sudden", Ryoko spoke form the corner of her mouth. "There is something terribly wrong about them, even if I couldn't put a finger on it."

"The most disturbing thing for me is the way they look at us", Aeka added, "but I might be wrong." They met the head of the other group and were suddenly looking into gun muzzles.

"Nobody's moving, or you will regret it", the first of the opponents said with an oily, gloating smile. Behind them, right on the trails of the tank the shapes of giantess, humanoid mechas begin to emerge from the forest.

"Delta 5 for Delta 1, the civilians are caught by this scum. Request permission to engage immediately before something happens to them."

"Try to wait a little longer, Keiichi. We are almost in position to get them all." With a silent curse I opened my cockpit and grabbed for my marksman rifle.

Virginia continued meanwhile, "Thomas, I've identified the _Black Knight_ and the _Archer_. The enemy commander should be within this _Black Knight_. Right in this moment the first of the _Phoenix Hawk_'s comes out with the _Shadow Hawk_."

Controlling my breath and taking a steady aim I said to her," Virginia, I need a distraction for those pirates and I need it right now." "You want it, you get it", Virginia replied after a heartbeat, almost purring.

"What's the meaning of this all?" Aeka demanded to know angry with a thunderstruck face.

Under ugly laughs she got some dirty looks. "You will find out soon enough, trust me sweetie", the man said who was threatening Sasami directly with his gun. "Seems that luck hasn't completely forgotten us", he concluded with a mean look above the gathered group while Ryoko began to snarl.

"Maybe we should shoot this one", a second man said, aiming his rifle at her. "She looks like trouble and it would teach the rest of those chicks a lesson what happens if they try to do something funny, like crossing us."

They laughed while suddenly left of them the woods seemed to explode.

"What's the hell..." were the last words of the guy who aimed at Sasami while he looked around. And then the world went wild.

Virginia's distraction consisted of breaking out of the woods at cruising speed and opening fire from all her weapons onto the _Vedette_ tank. The pirate's attention wandered only briefly, but that was more than enough for a certain sniper. The distance was about 500 meters, but that was no problem for me after I cleared my mind and the same calmness overcame me as always.

The one that threatened the little girl with her pet died instantly with an APDS1-Bullet straight through his helmet and brain. The second with his rifle up got shot right in his face before the first even had fallen down. Maybe it was a waste to use this ammunition against such targets, but I always tried to play as safe as possible. And this kind of final rescue shot worked so far as smooth as possible. The one thing you must keep in mind to look that none friendly target was behind them.

I was about taking aim for a third pirate as the 'civilians' began to move and then the 'party' started for sure. With bulging eyes I had to realize that suddenly two of the women had some kind of _Glowing SWORDS_ in their hands, seemingly right out of thin air. A third one had drawn a whip somewhere out of her dress while the fourth used a kind of a laser pistol. The last, blonde seemed to have problems to aim with her pistol, but her wild firing was enough to scare the pirate at least even if less than half her shots scored. With a nasty smirk, I concluded that the things turned bad for the pirates, even if I was completely dumbfounded what happening over there.

The woman with that funny green hair seemed to be seriously pissed off and raged like a fury. Almost against my will I rhymed in German under a smile, "Zu Ihrer Rechten und zur Linken, sah man halbe Piraten niedersinken." So I secured my rifle, closed the cockpit, put my neurohelmet on and followed Virginia into the battle.

The Masaki gang didn't know what were going on, but as suddenly the first two of their opponents went down, obviously shot by somebody as their blood sprayed, they took their steps without any hesitation.

While Washu and Ryoko activated their swords Aeka got her whip free. Meanwhile Mihoshi readied her Laserpistol and Tenchi drew the masterkey he had brought along.

From the left side, from where seemingly the shots had come, another of this ten meters tall mecha's had advanced, attacking their enemies. First the tank was taken out by a hit, which seems to have triggered an internal explosion. While advancing further, this somehow birdlike looking vehicle opened fire with some kind of lasers upon the first enemy mecha.

Although caught in their own battle they registered that the arms of the mecha, who looked like a giant knight, were both ripped off before he could react. Then, another of the enemy mechas circling closed in, so Tenchi and Ryoko bundled their powers to erect a forcefield in front of them, after they had finished the remaining nearby infantry, pulling an obviously shocked Sasami in the safe middle of the group.

With almost 50 kilometers per hour I erupted from the woods with my 'mech and headed straight for the battle, while Virginia was already wading in the middle of the fight.

The second salvo of both her Extended Range Large Lasers put the _Vedette_ out of any action by igniting the internal machine gun ammunition storage, effectively killing the crew. Her third salvo included the most of her ER medium lasers and maimed the leading _Black Knight _as she closed in. Losing both his arms he was more or less disarmed before he recovered from the surprise and got any chance to reply.

The first _Phoenix Hawk_ seemed to try evading Virginia's wraith, moving in a circle for the 'civilians', leaving Virginia for his comrades.

As I closed to intercept him, I saw him opening fire on them with his Large Laser, only to be perplexed again this day as his shot bounced off from some kind of barrier. Meanwhile Virginia had smoked the right leg of the _Black Knight_, getting herself fire from the pirates as they finally recovered from their initial shock of being attacked from unknown, undamaged clan 'mechs. The commander of the pirates 'mechs was able to keep his 'mech from falling, which gave testimonial of his abilities.

At this moment the rest of our 'star' arrived and joined the battle too. Pulling my 'mech into maximum speed I advanced on my enemy, getting my crosshairs above his 'mech in my HUD.

"I have nothing against seeing some mecha actions, as long it's on TV and I'm not caught in the middle of it", Ryoko cursed after they had deflected the first shot aimed on them.

Aeka insisted urgently, activating her own field, "Tenchi I think we might be in trouble. From behind us is another mecha closing. Will you nevertheless be able to hold the shield?" As answer Ryoko and Tenchi intensified the field they were holding.

Playing with some kind of device Washu replied, "This second group seems to be some kind of 'good guys', as far I can say from their radio communication. It took me nearly ten seconds to break their codes, so they have at least someone competent there. They stated themselves as a mercenary unit in service of a 'Star League Defense Force' and ordered the 'Pirates' to surrender or to be annihilated. Maybe I should have searched way earlier for radio communication…"

As the shooting didn't stop, she continued, "Well, seems obviously that they refused to do so, even being in a bad shape." And the fight around went on as both the mechs around them exchanged their fire, shaking the ground with their stomping.

As I locked my weapons on him the enemy _Phoenix Hawk_ again opened fire, this time at me. Being an old pre-clan model he was only able to fire his Large Laser, while his Medium Laser couldn't cover the distance. Taking a hit in the center torso of my _Nemesis_ I congratulated my self for being so resolute about putting the possible maximum of armor on the mech as he were in the 'mech-lab.

In return I fired both ER Large Laser and four of my ER Medium Lasers to keep the heat under control, while advancing further. The whole salvo went home, costing the enemy mech more than three tons of his armor. Unfortunately for my foe that weren't the only consequences.

One of the ER Medium Lasers depleted him of the most from his cockpit's armor. Another peeled harmlessly his left arm, but the rest hit right the center torso of his machine. After consuming the complete armor the _Phoenix Hawk_ had had in this location, the energy slashed at the internal components. Climbing smoke and a growing infrared signature told me, that I damaged his reactor shielding and from his nearly uncontrolled fall I concluded that I also hit his gyroscope2.

Through whatever circumstances now I was able to see the barrier around those people as a kind of blue glo-wing. In order to get at the pirate and finish him of, I fired my jumpjets and leaped across them. Meanwhile I could spare a glance on the ongoing battle.

Virginia finished the _Black Knight_ by amputating his last limb and stated over radio, "Well, I don't count this a draw, what do you think?"

William had engaged the _Archer_, which seemed to be a variant with two large lasers of its own and downgraded missile racks. Apparently this pirate had decided to hotload his missiles, because after he got a direct hit in one of his racks, it exploded, ripping off the affiliated arm. William, in return, got only light damages from one of the lasers and a few missiles.

Alicia stormed the poor, unlucky _Shadow Hawk_, which wasn't even able to slow her down. Firing both her ER Particle Projector Cannons plus her three ER Medium Lasers she was punishing him in a way he couldn't hope to withstand very long, even being a refitted 'mech with better weapons and armor. The missiles he had fired at Alicia didn't explode, bouncing off harmlessly, because the distance for them was to short in order to ready their warheads, for they weren't hot-loaded and needed some distance. So only his Medium Laser and his Ultra-Autocannon archived hits.

Thomas went straight for the second _Phoenix Hawk_ which got the same tonnage as his own 'mech. Obviously this pilot got a high respect against the swinging mace, because he more tried to evade it than to fire at Thomas. The last remaining enemy 'mech, the _Dervish_ tried to help his comrade against Alicia and fired both Medium Lasers and both his short-range missile racks. The second salvo of missiles detonated in the air, engulfing Alicia's _Man o' War_ in a wall of fire.

So this one had loaded Inferno missiles I mused. They didn't damage a 'mech directly, but were able to push the temperature (due the burning napalm) of a 'mech onto a critical level, where ammunition could explode or the pilot get harmed through a malfunction of his life support unit or the extensive heat in his cockpit.

The Masaki gang gaped as the mecha from their backside flattened his opponent and jumped right across them through the air with flaming thrusters, about engaging further the other mecha who attempted to stand up again. The pirate however seemed to have problems, because his weapons missed his jumping opponent entirely. Their now descending defender replied more accurate, virtually tearing him into pieces.

Almost as an afterthought, the pirate got hit from his now landing enemy with the legs in some kind of a kick, sending him spinning down again. Unfortunately he crashed headfirst to ground, seemingly destroying the cockpit with his pilot. Nearly deafened from the noise of the still continuing battle, Washu yelled, "I think this fight is nearly over. The pirates are in despair and uncoordinated. They won't be able to withstand very long as far I can say from what I'm hearing."

After finishing the unlucky _Phoenix Hawk_, his pilot dead in the smashed cockpit, I took my stand and looked around.

William killed his opponent by an indented Death-from-above attack in crushing the head of the _Archer_. Virginia stalked after the enemy _Dervish_, hunting him with barrage fire from all her weapons. Alicia destroyed her foe by disintegrating the entire internal structure of the 'mechs center torso, causing his fusion plant to explode. The pilot of the vanishing 'mech didn't eject.

I wasn't unable to recognize if that was caused by a failure of his auto ejecting or he even didn't engage this rescue device. Thomas however was still after his intended 'victim', causing him to panic. In a nearly futile attempt to storm our commander he closed in while firing all his weapons.

Because his 'mech was upgraded too, it might have worked against another Warrior, but not against Thomas. He took damage from the enemy fire, but blocked an at his cockpit aimed punch with the left hand of his 'mech, only to hit his foe in return with the mace. The last thing the _Phoenix Hawk_'s pilot might have seen would have been a down-coming shadow from the oversized meleeweapon.

"Caution, the _Dervish_ is trying to get away", I heard Alicia through the com. Instantly I drew my crosshair above the fleeing pirate, unleashing a complete salvo. In return the _Dervish_ fired again both short-range missile racks, not at me but at the people under their 'shield'. Deciding not to take any chance for them, I stepped my 'mech right into the line of fire, planning to absorb the incoming missiles with my 'mech.

Their tooth chattering from the vibrations of the fight right in front of them, the Masaki gang saw the destruction of the pirates. The whole battle might took less than two minutes from the first shots, but what ever it lacked in duration it more than compensated in intensity. The sound of the brutal fight was bad enough, but the smell was more than nauseating.

One of the pirates exploded in furious fireball, after concentrated fire speared him. Another met his destiny by being kicked right into his cockpit, while the third was eliminated from the 'mech with that huge weapon in his hand. Obviously the last remaining pirate tried to flee back into the woods, firing some kind of rockets, while he got shot by their 'guardian'.

"Uhm, ladies, I've got a real bad feeling about this missiles. They seem to come straight after us", Tenchi said coughing as the mecha in front of them started to move.

The first salvo that came in was the Infernos, bathing my _Nemesis_ in flames after they hit the center torso. The temperature in my cockpit, already increased from the weapon heat during the battle, rose significantly. The both normal SRM's followed directly.

The first hit the left torso while the last one stroked right against my cockpit. Threatened by a sudden shower of shrapnel, I unlashed another complete salvo against my foe, raising again the already high temperature within my cockpit. As a consequence I was required to push instantly the veto button against the automatic shutdown. Fortunately for me I succeeded. My fire was joined from the mates of our 'star', ripping the pirate's 'mech literally into pieces. Nevertheless I had to make a little step backwards to compensate to impact, keeping my 'mech upright through the feedback from my neurohelmet in my innerear. "Keiichi, are you alright?" I heard Thomas over radio, while some liquid streamed over my face, being not only sweat.

"Ouch, that must have hurt", Ryoko said sympathetically, as the mecha in front of them stumbled a little after taking the missiles that were meant for them. However he regained his footing while still in flames, obviously looking for more enemies, but the battle was definitely over. The last one that fired those rockets was caught in a short, but vicious crossfire, being shredded beyond uselessness. After he hit the ground his cockpit exploded, obviously from some kind of a suicide charge. With a twist of his torso the mecha before them turned and asked over loudspeakers in English with a light accent, "Everything all right down there?"

"Well, that's what could happen if someone want's to play some kind of Knight in shiny armor", Thomas stated over radio, slightly amused.

"Hai", I replied, putting my helmet down, only to find some real nasty looking splinter stuck in it. "But I saw no alternative", carefully not mentioning the unusual events I'd seen. The temperature was dropping again, easing my pains. "If the Infernos had hit after the normal SRM's, things could turn really bad for me", I continued, my Battlemech still in fire.

"Are you injured severely?" Virginia asked via com.

"Some cuts in the face and at the arms. Also some minor bruises and a small laceration from the impact, I would say. Hmm, funny. I didn't get a hull breach as I thought at my cockpit after all, but somehow I got shrapnel's from the Inner site. Maybe a material defect or an unusual warhead, I don't know. How is the rest?"

"No sweat, we only lost armor, making you our only injured. From the pirates possibly only the commander in his _Black Knight_ survived, plus some infantrymen who fled into the woods", William replied.

"OK", I said, "I think, I will get myself bandaged a little".

Suddenly an unknown, female voice sounded, "Is a doctor needed up there?"

After a short pause I got a message from Thomas via a powerreduced Laser. "Keiichi? I thought our com was meant to be safe and unbreakable?"

"That was my best encoding software I used and the compressing should had done the rest", I replied the same way. "Maybe my com got damaged from that head-shot and I'm sending open. I will check my equipment as soon as possible under this circumstances and report to you."

After the fire from the inferno missiles went out, I locked the legs of my 'mech and opened my cockpit with some difficulties. Seemingly it got damaged from the hit at my 'mechs head. The air I got from the outside smelled smoky, but that wasn't a surprise after the battle and the extinct fire. I packed some belongings, including the first aid set and some weapons, and was about to left my cockpit over the rope ladder I'd thrown out of my cockpit, as I jumped back, bumping my already hurting head.

There was this green-haired woman _FLOATING_ in front of my cockpit, looking quizzically at me. "Did you need any help? You seem to be a little uneasy on your feet," she asked friendly, mustering the interior of my cockpit. Slightly shaken I started, "Umm, let me try it first. Maybe I will be in need of assistance." Getting my field com unit I asked Thomas if he had seen the same I meant to see.

"Sure thing", came the instant reply over the radio. "I think we will have to talk about it", he decided with a wary voice. Meanwhile I was climbing down the ladder, the green-haired woman literally hovering beside me. Over the radio I heard Thomas, ordering Alicia and William to check the pilot of the _Black Knight_, while Virginia and himself steered their 'mechs over to my position.

1 Armor Piercing Dual Sabot, special ammunition, normally used against armored targets.

2 Instrument that enables the pilot to keep his' mech in balance.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter FiveDeep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_1. April 3058, about 7:50 Terran Standard Time_

The young man that climbed out of the mecha seemed to be in his mid-twenties, carrying a katana on his back and some kind of machine pistol on his side, which made an odd combination. Over a headset he held contact with his comrades as they heard over Washu's communicator.

The two mechas that had closed took position nearby, providing additional protection while the other two were carrying out the orders they got before. As the pilot reached the ground safely they were able to see, that he was wearing some kind of combat suit. As he turned to them, it was also evident, that his face had taken an assortment of smaller wounds during the battle.

With an amused smile, which looked odd because of the still seeping blood, he asked under a small bowing, "Konnichiwa, who is the promised doctor of yours, if I may ask?"

Washu stepped forward smiling herself, answering, "That's me, professor Washu, but just call me Washu-chan. And I would say that you are in need of some medical care, the way you are looking. I'd like to take a short examination, before dressing your wounds, if you agree."

"Well, my name is Keiichi and you are more than welcomed if you can spare a look. I've brought my first aid kit along, so if there is anything you need, feel free to take it." Under a short glance about the people that surrounded him in a halfcircle he put down his communication gear, deactivating it seemingly. He sat down so Washu could care his wounds and continued.

"Sumimasen, it might be impolite to mention, but your equipment is more than inadequate for a rough terrain like we have here. Also you are an awful long way from any civilization. The area we are in might be dangerous for you as civilians, because you just stumbled right in the middle of a military police action. Some of the pirates we were hunting definitely got away. I don't want to anticipate my commander, but if you are willing to tell us what you are doing out here, we might be able to provide some help. At least as long as it doesn't stray away too much from our mission profile."

Washu let a heavy sigh, while she had a look on the wounds. "Maybe you won't believe us, but we have no idea where we are. I know it's hard to accept as true, but yesterday we were on entirely other planet. How many fingers do you see?"

"Actually I'm seeing two fingers and you're right, it is hard to believe, because our ships didn't detect any further ship within this starsystem the last two days", the instant answer came.

"Remarkable, you didn't even get a concussion, as far I can say", Washu continued lightly. "Ok, so I will do something about those wounds. I can almost guarantee that you won't retain any scars. Well, I take note of your disbelief, but yesterday we were on Earth, planning some Vacation", she said while treating his injuries with a salve from her own first aid kit.

After a brief pause Keiichi assured, "That's even harder to swallow."

"Did you mention that we are lying?" Aeka stated regally, every inch a jurain princess.

"Sumimasen again, I don't want to arouse the appearance, Milady", Keiichi said, nearly defensively. "But, as a matter of fact, Terra is several hundred light-years away, making it a travel for months. And you definitely don't look like being from Blake's Word. After they conquered Terra quite some years ago, the only one's that are there are their own people. In the light of this you may forgive me for having my doubts."

Washu exchanged some glances with the other members of the Masaki household and observed, "I think we need to have some serious talking."

It took some time to secure the field. William and Alicia checked for the pirates' commander, finding him dead with a broken neck in his cockpit. Obviously his neurohelmet had slipped while his 'mech had fallen, causing this end. They also found a self-destroying charge in the cockpit, which was disabled by William instantly. In the aftermath they also checked the _Vedette_ Tank, discovering that the entire crew, as suspected, had been killed from the spraying bullets of the exploding machinegun ammunition inside the vehicle. After a fast fire-burial for the killed pirates, while I tried to hack the computer we found aside the dead enemy officer, both groups sat together, far enough to get some fresh air after that carnage.

From our unit naturally Thomas took the word, while Washu-chan spoke for the other group. To ease the meeting, first a little introducing round was performed to learn each other's names. We were more than surprised as we heard the name of the only male member of that troop. The request for the cause of the giggle of our females didn't help either, sending them both down in laughter.

I took it on me to enlighten the puzzled looking 'strangers'. "Now, this is real interesting coincidence", I said, "Because my full name is Keiichi _Masaki_." Which earned me a more than perplexed look from them.

After Virginia and Alicia sobered up enough, we concluded the names exchanges, also including our ranks and the name of our unit. In the ongoing of the merry little conference it proved that they didn't knew the slightest bit from the innersphere, the clans and the whole other rest which was natural for us.

So we gave them an equivalent of a crash course about the history of the Star League and the Innersphere. In exchange their tales form their home gave us enough to gulp. After another two hours Thomas took William and me aside, under the excuse off having some debriefing to do with us.

"OK, first I think we have a little chat together, Keiichi. What was the meaning of this little Wild West show you performed with Virginia? If it had taken us only a minute longer to reach the field, you both might have been stuck neck deep in the shit. Virginia was already about to take heavy fire."

"Sorry Thomas, but I just couldn't stand at the Offline, looking only. Not after the transmission we got from 'Swordfish'", I replied adamantine. "Not after we identified them as civilians with a kid in their middle. You also heard what this scum had done, just for pleasure."

Thomas winced and waved his left hand, "Point made. But had it to be _that_ way? After all, I'm the one who is responsible for our 'star', you remember?"

I shrugged and replied, "That was Virginia's decision at all. I might have handled it otherwise, but she could have done worse. By charging them clan-like, they must have believed, for an instant at least, that there were new clanners, eager to get their scalps. That shock and her accurate as usual weapon fire from her 'mech had done almost the rest. And it gave me the time I needed to get them, well at least two of them."

"So you were able to field-test that customized sniper rifle of yours?" Thomas asked with a hungry smile.

"Yes, and it performed even better than predicted." I replied.

With a nodding Thomas concluded, "All right, I will let pass it, this time. Do you know the definition of 'own initiative'?"

"When I remember it correctly, you might mean the sentence 'Own initiative is insubordination with a positive ending'?" I answered inquiring.

Thomas nodded again, "I see I'm understood. I will have a chat with Virginia too about this matter but we also have other things to consider. What do you think about this people? Are they for real?" he asked.

"As far as I can say, they are not lying to us. Maybe they are concealing some details, but so do we", William begun. "It might sound like Science Fiction or Fantasy to us, like their claiming about the way of interstellar travelling with ships based on large trees and so on. But from what I heard from both of you about their performance while they finished the pirates our Keiichi here didn't get, I won't put aside the possibility that they are telling the truth, even if it's more than hard to believe for us", he ended.

"The same from me", I aided. "Hell, Ryoko did indeed float in front of my cockpit and it seemed to be completely normal for her and the rest of their party. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, my battle-rom got damaged from that cockpit hit, erasing all records from the fight, including the deflection of the _P-Hawk_'s shot. Reading their body language, I totally agree with the judgement of William. But I also suspect some other, deeper aspects. From the behavior of Aeka and, in a much smaller degree from her sister Sasami, I would bet that they both are from some kind of aristocracy. I've seen enough nobleman and –woman at Luthien to can conclude that from the way they are moving and speaking. They can't betray long years of education in that ways.

Also we shouldn't underestimate Washu-chan. Her acting might be funny, but I'm sure the most _is_ acting. Her tiny device might help, but to break my code in not more than ten seconds and _proving it_ by breaking another code in even less time took a certain edge of knowledge and ability. I think she could teach even our honorable mastertech some lesson's, giving him the feeling of being a student again."

Under some laughs William included, "The bloody hell you're right. I don't know if you noticed, but her Rucksack seems to float a little above the ground, and that's for certain a thing we should consider. It means not only they have anti-grav/grav like in some Science Fiction novels, but also they are able to build it as small as to put it in a backpack."

"Hai", I said musing, "that's real interesting. Well, what could I say about Ryoko? As I can say, she's the born fighter and hunter. You can see it from behavior, too. Her fighting skills plus her abilities, as far we have seen her, make her a tough customer. I bet she can become a real menace if she put her mind on it. There seem to be some tensions between her and Aeka, but I won't give too much about it.

Well, also there is little Ryo-Ohki, a cabbit as they said. She seems to be not more than Sasami's pet, but I think she's not only kawaii and cuddling. The only other one that remained some kind of mystery for me is that Mihoshi. She's nice and seems to be a caring person. But she claims to be a sort of police officer and the others of them didn't oppose her, however for that she ... uh... well, seems to be a bit too incapable for me.

A whole different matter is Tenchi. He might look sheepish in return, but I sense a much deeper personality. Call it intuition if you want, but there is something about him I can't lay a finger on. At home we would say that he has an extraordinary _Chi_, or spoken in other terms, soul. That's all I can say so far."

"That's very enlightening, gentlemen", Thomas mused, twitching the ridge of his nose nearly mind absent. "But what are the consequences we are drawing form that? Ms. Washu said that the 'mechreactors are unable to serve her needing for a power source for several causes. One and the most important for us is that we want to use them furthermore", Thomas smiled.

"Maybe I have a solution for this, boss-sama", I inserted with an answering smile. "I was unable, due our little gathering, to give you the latest update from what I learned from this computer we found by the pirates. The raid wasn't meant against the _clans_, at least not entirely. They only wanted to get rid of them. It was directed for an old Star League cache, which should be located on this planet. I don't know from where they got their data and knowledge about this, but they seemed to be very positive about it. They even had some vague coordinates, pointing to a place about 200 klicks westward. I don't know which class of base we will find, if there is one. But even the fusion plant from a small station should be enough to satisfy the needs of Washu-chan. The only thing that bothers me is that the clan warriors might know that possible base although. Company Alpha wasn't unable to wipe them out, getting so far only two of the 'mechs plus some of the 'toads'. That means that one clan 'mech is still operational plus an unknown number of their powerarmored infantry, not to mention the pirates infantry that got away. Any of them won't be a real threat for us, but what about the others?"

"Oh, thank you so much, for adding more weights of responsibility on my back", Thomas replied a bit overjoyed. He continued, "But I think we might be able to solve the problems. We will to have to check that _Vedette_ again. He is damaged, but maybe we will get it going, for a while at least. And I'm positive about that a 'possible' Star League Base is a matter we _can't_ ignore, can we? I may have only understood the half of what Ms. Washu said about the technical details of her device, but if we can get them offworld it would help all of us. I'm planning _not_ to inform Colonel Jagelowsk about what happened here, frankly because I think she won't believe us. Even if she did our way will be the faster and cleaner. Officially we set off to search the Base, after I informed the Colonel, because all other units would have to cover a greater distance. I don't think she will use a dropship for such a lousy ground-ground hop, because there is no real urgency in the matter so far. It might be necessary to tamper a little with the battle-rom from our other 'mechs. Is there any problem for you, Keiichi?" "Piece of cake, Thomas", I answered. "Look on it as already done."

Our commander nodded, "As I presumed, knowing your hacking abilities for sure from first hand experience. Whatsoever, we need to get the tank going, so we can put our guests into it, offering them at least some protection. Are there any further suggestions from you both?"

"Perhaps we should check also the weapons of the tank and/or provide them some personal weapons, so they can defend themselves in any case", William added.

Thomas nodded again, "Yes, some pistols or submachine guns won't be a problem for we have enough for spare from the pirates. Anything more? Well then we will try it this way. I will also speak with Alicia and Virginia about it, perhaps they can add some details, but the plan stands. Keiichi, you will take care of the _Vedette_, I'll give you three hours. If necessary you can also cannibalize the enemy 'mech wrecks to get spare parts. Do what you can, after those check your cockpit for any further defects. We take preparations to leave in the later morning."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_Meanwhile not too far away._

"What do you think Washu?" Aeka asked. "It occurs to me that we could have met worse." Washu answered without hesitation, "You're right about it so far. They seem to be the guys with the white hats, but even those people might not like it when 'civilians' stumble right in the middle of their operations."

"Do you buy this 'debriefing story'?" Ryoko inserted in a low voice, looking around. With a smile Washu replied, "Not entirely. There might be some debriefing, but I also think they talk about what to do with us. Our story for them seems to be hard to consider, likewise we have problems to think of being in the year 3058 A.D." After a few seconds Tenchi continued, "That means we are far more from home as we thought, aren't we?"

"I fear so Tenchi", Washu answered with a sigh. "We did not only travel through space but also time as it seems. In the light that their known space covers a globe of several hundred light-years in diameter from Terra and they never heard of Jurai, it even might be that we landed in a completely different dimension. The alternative would be most disturbing, like a possible disappearance of Jurai as whole."

"Why don't we board Ryo-Ohki and have a look?" Ryoko asked, seconded by a nodding from Aeka. "Sorry girls, but Ryo-Ohki is far from being alright. She suffered more from the transit than you, because she seems to be much more sensitive for the side effects of this nearly failed teleport. It will take her quite some days to recover fully. She might be able to transform herself into ship anyway, but I would like to spare this at the given moment for a real and instant emergency."

"What do you think about those men? At least two of them seem to have some Japanese features." Aeka continued. Washu nodded again in agreement, "You have a point there, but as you may remember they said that they are from a 'Draconis Combine', which claims to descend from Japan on their Earth. In this dimension five dynasties rule, forming the so-called Innersphere, each based of another terran culture. Nevertheless they reinstalled that 'Star League' to unify their efforts."

"Whatsoever", Ryoko interrupted her. "From what I can say they look all awfully competent in what they are doing. I don't know the military in this realm, but this people are tough. I have my doubts if they are really _only_ mercenaries."

"That occurred to me too", Washu said. "They had the surprise moment on their side as they attacked those pirates. But more important they got better material and pilots as I can say without checking their 'mechs. From that and in the light that they are behind the lines of an enemy as they claimed, I would conclude that they might be some kind of specialists. Keiichi seems to be their computer expert, and it wouldn't surprise me if all of them had their own professions." She led a heavy sigh. "But we still has some days to cover before we can think about get home, unless I find a proper power source and can speed it up."

The conference between the three men ended and Keiichi neared, holding for his mech, followed by the other both. "What's up?" Ryoko asked, getting up as all of them gathered together.

"Maybe we found a solution for our situation", Thomas stated. "Our Keiichi here is not only good at shooting; he also has a certain knack of getting things repaired."

"Yes, we realized that so far. I bet that pirate in his 'mech was impressed himself before he fell", Aeka said with a thankful smile.

Thomas answering smile, which was already a little wolfish turning even lupine, "Oh, I meant two other shoots, you also might have noticed. After all you were able to eyewitness the results of them, unlike me."

"WHAT? That was you TOO?" Aeka turned to Keiichi in sudden surprise.

Almost uncomfortable in the center of attention he replied, "Well, no big deal. I really don't like people who terrorize little girls with their weapons. So I had done what seemed appropriate for me. Besides, it wasn't that difficult to get them, if you know how."

"I HATE this", Virginia suddenly flared. "He always says such things after he beat the crap out of me at the shooting range, when we have to qualify with hand weapons."

"Hold your horses. It's not my fault that you can't hit a barn at 5 meters from the inside, when it comes to use other weapons than your 'mech.", Keiichi replied with a smile. Before their discussion could foam over Thomas stepped in.

"The quintessence is that I ordered our 'eagle eye' Keiichi here to take care of the tank. If we are able to get it going, you will have an armored transport of your own. Moreover we learned that an old star League base might be on this planet, not too far away. That could also help you, because all such bases, even the smallest, were equipped with fusion plants. Given the size they must have to supply an entire base, it should be more than enough to provide the needed energy for your purpose. The importance of a 'possible' Star League Cache is great enough to 'modify' our mission profile accordingly, so will be able to provide some escort, at least to the suspected position of that 'maybe' base."

Meanwhile Keiichi had climbed into his 'mech, entering the cockpit. Suddenly Ryo-Ohki woke from her apathy. Sniffling she jumped right out of Sasami's arms and orientated.

"Ryo-Ohki, what's wrong?" a startled and still pale looking Sasami cried. After an instant the cabbit stormed, to the surprise of the others, the 'mech in front of them with lightning speed climbed it up and jumped under a loud "Myaaaaa!" right into Keiichi's cockpit.

The next they heard was a startled "What the heck..." from him. After some additional seconds suddenly the external loudspeaker of the _Nemesis_ were activated on a low power level. "Attention, Attention. This is a customer information. If there is a certain cabbit missing, she might be fetched at the information, where she is about to gobble down the last carrots a hard working 'mech warrior had in storage."

After the minor episode Keiichi was able to precede his 'mech to the tank and fetched his repair set from his cockpit. The others, with the exception of Thomas, Virginia and William who resumed some kind of patrol, followed afterwards. As they reached the vehicle Keiichi was already at work, getting an overview.

"Well, that's looking not too bad on the first sight. The reactor is perfectly intact, the controls seems to be only slightly damaged. Hmm, the machine gun is totally wrecked, but that doesn't matter, because we haven't any ammunition for it unless we take some from the _Phoenix Hawk_'s."

He activated his com unit, "Thomas, I've got some good and some bad news for you. It's possible to get this tank going again, but if I should try to repair some of the weapon it might take more time, even jury-rigged." "Sorry, but as I said, you have only three hours, not more", the answer came.

"Maybe I can lend a hand." Washu inserted, having a closer look on the interior by her own.

"You're welcome", Keiichi answered. "There are enough extra tools from the tank's compartment. What's you specialty? Mechanics or electronics?" he asked her.

Washu replied with a twinkle in her eyes, "Both. My real middle name is 'scientific genius'." Under laughing Keiichi answered, "Glad to have you aboard, Washu-chan. Let's have a look what we can achieve together." Two and a half hours later a sweating but smiling Keiichi reported readiness of the tank and his 'mech upon his commander.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_1. April 3058, about 10:30 Terran Standard Time_

Soon after we got going I was contacted by our commander. "Seems like those damages weren't that much or severe as you thought first, were they?" Thomas asked over radio.

"Sort of", I replied, only to switching on to laser communication with his _Hatchetman_. "God bless you for your blissful ignorance", I continued. "To tell the truth they were even worse. Normally it would have taken at least half a day to do the repairs we discovered of being necessary. I'm astonished myself by the speed in which we got the work done, but nearly the whole credit for it belongs to Washu-chan. Even being not accustomed to the tools we use and using spare parts from the destroyed pirate 'mechs she did an exceptional work. Instead that she assisted me, it was more that _I assisted her_. We did not only repair the tank, she also improved some of its systems."

"Could you get a bit more specific?" Thomas asked.

"I will try it", my answer came. "For beginners she started to improve en route the large laser the _Vedette_ has as main weapon. She transformed the old standard laser into something with even greater range and a bit more punch than our own Clan ER Lasers. Second, she has done something about the sensors and scanner in the tank's cockpit. Even jury-rigged, they have at least 50 percent more range than our scanners and are also able to nullify the problems with the MAD from the minerals in the ground. Not to forget, that she built something out of scrap, what reminds me definitely on some kind of ECM-Suite. I was tempted to christen it the Vedette-Washu or short VW, but decided to not cross THAT bridge"

Thomas let a whistle. "That sounds real impressive, even more in the light you only got two hours. What's your opinion? Might we be able to copy some of her 'Inventions'?" he asked.

After some pondering I replied, "Maybe, maybe not. I got some insights of her gadgets, but I also noted that she built some safeties in her devices. Not explosive ones, no. Only some precautions that will melt the innards into rubbish, if somebody tampers with them. Well, after the experiences they got lately, I can't really blame her for taking steps that will prevent her stuff from falling into the wrong hands. After all, even if I won't be able to copy any of her 'toys', I got some interesting starting points for a little R&D of my own."

"Hmm, taking your enthusiasm for granted, maybe me should offer her a job slot in our tech crew", Thomas mused.

"Somehow I don't believe she would take it, not only because they aren't at home here", I answered scratching the back of my head. "And even if she would, it might prove that we would get more than we bargained for. She tried hard to hide it, but I would bet that our technology, even our improved is somehow primitive, even crude in her eyes. Furthermore I suspect that she held herself back a bit. I even go so far that I would wage six month salaries that she could have done it in less than one hour, if she had her own tools and put her mind on it.

She joked that her real middlename would be 'Scientific genius', but I'm not sure if it's really a joke. You know, I'm not bad at all, when it comes to tinker a tiny-winy bit with machines of all kinds. But I think she's light-years in front of me. If you would turn her really loose on our 'mechs with her usual tools and resources, I'm not sure we would recognize our machines in the end at all."

Aboard the Vedette tank, encoded as Delta Six

"How did it go?" Tenchi asked Washu as they set of in their 'own' tank, escorted by five 'mechs to reach the 'possible' base within the next two days.

"Quite not bad, after all", a self-satisfied Washu answered, steering the tracked vehicle through the woods. "I was able to get some additional information, mostly by bits and pieces, literally. As we repaired this tank by cannibalizing the enemy 'mechs and the repairs in Keiichi's cockpit I learned a deal. The 'mechs of our 'guardians' might be state of the art, maybe even better, because I saw some minor modifications I would track back to Keiichi."

She shook her head, "I knew that I had to break my own enthusiasm, because Keiichi kept a sharp eye on my doing. I could have done more on this tank, but I surely won't give the wrong persons the wrong ideas, and Keiichi seems to have a nearly eidetic memory. Don't misunderstand me. I trust the whole bunch of them, but I don't know if I can trust their superiors.

But back to their 'mechs. They are much more advanced than the pirate ones, but they are antique compared to Jurain technique. The greatest problem is that the most of them must have an eye on the temperatures they got in their mechas when firing their weapons. They rapidly heat up, when firing too much weapons and their heat sinks can only reduce that in a limited degree."

"Then why they don't include more of them into their mechs?" Mihoshi asked from her place at the gunnery seat. "They can include additional heat sinks", Washu answered with a nod. "But there would be other problems. In most 'mechs the equipment is fixed, making it difficult and time consuming to repair or replace it. This Clan-'mechs they gained are a step in front. They use a pod-based technology, much easier to configure for the needing of different requirements or repairs. But the crux remains. You can add more heat sinks, but only on the cost of something different. You must know, that the construction of a Battlemech is limited by the tonnage it should have and the storage it can provide. To make it short, if they want more heat sinks, they must sacrifice other stuff, like weapons or armor. So they have to balance their weaponry and the resulting heat when configuring."

"That's all really interesting and I can also conclude from that that they will be unable to give us any technical supply", Aeka inserted in a low voice, her little sister resting on her lap, so that Sasami could sleep of the shock from the morning. "Is there more you can observe?"

Washu pondered a while and resumed, "It might be unlikely, but not plain impossible to find something in that base that could do more than only speed up my energy collector. While I worked together with Keiichi I was able to sound out him and in a smaller amount Alicia and Virginia as they helped to gut the wrecks.

There seem to be some parallels between the histories of their Terra and our Earth. They don't know too much about their own past, because their ancestors were so busy to bomb themselves nearly into neo-barbarism and almost succeeded in four so-called 'Successor-Wars'. The only organization which will know more for sure would be that 'Comstar', but they are said to be very secretive about such matters. You won't believe it, but they even invented the nonsense of a pseudo-religious order in the past, to keep their knowledge from falling into other hands. Several centuries ago they were able to replace lost limbs by cloned parts. But they ended their own 'Golden Age' as their precious Star League broke apart in a civil war. It would be interesting what would become of that Star League if it hadn't broken.

But I'm deviate from the subject again. I'm concluding that we are really in some kind of parallel-dimension. They even know some of the stars with the same name they have at home on earth. They visited some of them with a jurain presence in our reality, as they founded colonies in the proximity of Terra. But they did not find anything. Also I modified the com-set which would have enabled me to get in contact with the galaxy police, but equally nothing. The same for every inter-galactic radio station we know about. Even if Jurai should have perished, which would be unlikely, there should have been at least something."

After some minutes of silent contemplation Tenchi summarized, "That means we proceed to the base, whatever we will find there, right Washu?"

"Don't loose your spirit everybody", Washu cheered up while she encircled some kind of a giant redwood with the tank. "Even in the worst case we will only have to wait 'til my space-folder regained enough energy for a transfer. In the meantime we are in safe and honorable company and maybe we will even find something real interesting in that Star League base."

"Delta Five for Delta Six, please come in", they heard over the internal loudspeaker.

"What's up Keiichi?" Washu asked back over the laser communication they set up for security.

"Thomas ordered me to pass the word that our formation is about to reform in a wedge. William will take the lead and you will place right in the rear-middle. Any objections?" the inquiry came.

"Not from me. But what's about getting a break for lunch? I don't know what's about you, but our work in this morning left me with a certain appetite. Also a chance to get at least a cat wash will be welcome" Washu asked. After some seconds the reply came.

"According to our glorious chief, we will go on for the next two hours. Believing the maps we have, we will reach then a river, where we have to search a safe passage for the tank. That might take a while, so we should get a break at all. I fear in the meantime you will have to rely on the rations we found."

"Jerks, I think I can cover the time without trying _that_ stuff. Maybe Sasami will be able to get something edible out of them, if we give her time, _plenty_ of time. But in the state they are presently, they are plain inedible from my point of view", Washu stated over the com with clear disgust.

"My, my, my. Aren't we a little choosy, today?" the answer came promptly with a laugh.

With a laugh of her self she shot back, "In contrast of you I didn't have the time to develop anti-bodies against such a threat. These rations are only short of a war crime or intentional bodily harm."

Keiichi's answer came without delay. "Then you shouldn't try the cookies from the packs. They are nicknamed 'armor-plates' for good. But to ease your troubled mind I can say the following. Thomas got on his routine message to our HQ some additional information our strike teams got from the computers in the clan-base. They include some memos about edible animals and plants, so we will dispatch a little hunting party to get some fresh meat in the evening. How does this sound to you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter SevenDeep Periphery, at a riverbank on Planet TZ-908

_1. April 3058, about 12:45 Terran Standard Time_

After almost exactly two hours we reached the river. Instantly Alicia and William had entered the water with their 'mechs, searching for a safe passage for the tank. The nameless river had only a depth of six meters, but that was already too much for a tracked vehicle, even if it only washed the hips of our 'mechs.

In the meantime, Ryoko was floating over the river also searching, so it took those only about five minutes to find a suitable way. After we herded the _Super-Vedette_, as Washu had typified him, safely on the opposite bank, we decided to get a short, half an hour break. Virginia and myself took the watches in our 'mechs, while the others stretched they legs.

The caution might look needless, but we knew that there were one Clanmech and several 'toads' in the field. The 'mech was supposed to be a long distance away, but maybe the pirates attracted some of the toads with their last radio messages, bubbling about "unidentified Clanmechs". So we decided to play it safe and keep at least one 'mech and someone aboard the tank or two of our 'mechs at watch.

I had opened the cockpit hatch in order to get some fresh air too, while I observed my sensors. But they showed as little as Virginia's. Not even over radio we got more than the usual background noise.

Under slight amusement, I was able to see as a fight between Ryoko and Aeka erupted. The set off seemed to be which one was supposed to sit beside Tenchi on a log by the bank. Tenchi himself took it in a sort of resignation, which indicated that this wasn't the first time he had to go through this. The both girls became, after a few well-placed mutual insults, violent. I wasn't able to understand what they flared on each other. But the fight ended not before they pushed poor Tenchi, who tried to separate them, right into the river.

Fortunately the shore wasn't very deep and the drifts only slow, so he hadn't any problems to climb out of the river. In the meanwhile the both incipient furies began to argue about, who was responsible for the occurrence and who was allowed to take care of the soaked Tenchi, even quite hearable in my cockpit.

While shaking my head I asked Washu over laser com, "Are they always _that_ way?"

"No, sometimes even worse", Washu answered with a heavy sigh from the tank's hatch where she had taken a seat. "Well, Aeka and Ryoko learned to get along with each other usually. But both can become irritated quickly, especially when it comes about Tenchi."

"Irritated was not the first word which came in my mind, seeing them," I replied a bit shaken. "But that's their private leisure I would say. How is Sasami?"

"Much better" Washu answered after a short second, obviously having a look on the girl. "Just give her another day and her cheerful nature will have recovered from the shock. In the moment the best we can do is to let her sleep it off. It was not easy for her to be caught in the middle of a battle like that and getting nearly captured by some unpleasant people did the rest."

I nodded in cockpit, "Well I hope that she won't keep some kind of trauma from the experience. I can imagine that being shot or nearly ending under a mechs foot is not the most pleasant event. But being honest it was the only possibility I saw in the given moment to do something about to save her and the rest of you. If I had known your abilities and 'gifts', I might have opted for another and not so drastic solution, sparing her possibly a part of distress."

"Don't push yourself too hard, because there was no way for you knowing that", she replied gentle. "And I'm almost sure that you really saved her life, maybe even not hers alone. No one can know what would happen if the pirate had recognized your approaching Battlemechs earlier or if we had tried to do something about that matter like Ryoko was about to do. So don't get yourself depressive."

"Hai Sensei-sama", I said. "I will try to keep it in mind. But you must get a real bad impression from your surrounding. Caught in the crossfire form nearly a dozen 'mechs isn't the most enjoyable happening I can think of, being less than a day on a unknown world."

Washu replied with an even over com visible shake of her head, "Well, we _did_ plan for some adventure vacations, but even I wouldn't have believed how far it has really gone. But a little surprise from time to time saves your life from becoming boring."

Under a sudden laugh I could only reply, "Say what your want, but I can't imagine how at least Tenchi's life could ever become dull or boring. At least as long as two certain female persons do their best to outdo each other in some competition for him. Oh, by the way. If you didn't bring any reserve clothes for this poor boy, we might be able to spare something from our equipment for he seems to have just about the same standard size as myself."

Fortunately for Tenchi they brought along enough clothes for change, so he hadn't to wear some of our uniforms. As we set of again, we got a least a remarkable picture of a tank decorated with clothing, because the women of the 'crew' voted for trying to dry his clothes in the warm air.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_1. April 3058, about 18:00 Terran Standard Time_

After a covered distance of almost 160 kilometers we agreed altogether to set up a night camp. Furthermore Ryoko, William and I were picked to have a little look if we could get fresh meat for a small barbecue party. Replacing my neurohelmet with a standard helm I got my laser rifle and left my cockpit after securing the whole 'mech and setting the sensors on overwatch by linking them with Thomas _Hatchetman_ who has taken the first watch.

Ryoko was already awaiting us at the perimeter of our camp, which was with secured additional sensors. Clearly she didn't bring a weapon along, planning to rely on her own 'abilities'.

In the contrary William not only brought his laser hunting rifle, but also his double-barreled Blazer, a weapon with only a short range but a devastating damage capacity.

My rifle earned me some surprised looks, for it was a combination of a standard 7.62mm rifle with a laser rifle, each with a damper. Both rifles would have sniper qualities of their own, but this was one of my successful experiments, leaving me the choice what to use, depending on the given situation. I had to admit that this weapon was a bit clumsier and heavier than a usual, but in my eyes the advantages out-weight that. It had taken me quite some months and the help of one or two of our techs, but the result had justified the efforts.

Naturally I had replaced the APDS bullets I used in the morning against normal ammunition, for it would be plain waste to use them. After we equipped Ryoko with another field com unit and synchronized the frequencies for shortest-range usage we vanished into the deep forest.

Ryoko eyed at our weapons and asked a little doubtfully, "Do you think they will be necessary? You both look to me like a walking arsenal."

I answered with a shrug, "We don't have your possibilities so we have to rely on more conventional stuff. It would be nice if we could create swords like you, but we are able to get our job done without such abilities", I said, blinking conspiracy to her.

After another quarter hour of silent sneaking we found the first traces of animal we were looking for. Half an hour later we had enough meat to cover several days. Ryoko surprised us again by getting her prey with some kind of energy beam she projected effortlessly out of her hand. After we prepared our intended roast by removing the innards we begin to trail back, collecting en route some edible roots and berries.

At the campsite the rest of the group had meanwhile taken preparations by starting a fire, large enough to get the job done. The ladies also had successfully suggested building a screen. In the cover it provided they were able to do some body hygiene while Tenchi and Thomas secured the camp. After the happy collective and reciprocal washing they sat around the fire, waiting for the hunting party. About twenty minutes later Thomas notified them that the three hunters were approaching, obviously from a successful hunt.

As the hunters reached finally the camp, it came evident, that they didn't exaggerate in that matter, providing meat to cover at least three days. They had to enlarge the cooking fire in order to prepare the fresh meat, so it could be stored safely. The cooking of so much meat took a while, but that was all right. After they got all their deserved supper, which was prepared from Sasami, who hadn't recover totally but insisted adamantine to take a share of the work, with some help from Alicia and Keiichi they together to chat a little.

In relaxed mood Ryoko asked Washu, "What do you think? Maybe we should hire these guys. They have at least a professional appearance and are nice to have by."

"Oh, thank you so much for this compliment, even if it's a dubious one", Keiichi replied with a fresh-bandaged face. "But that leaves the question what you were able to spend, if it comes to the possibility."

Thomas took in, "Keiichi, don't forget that we have a contract already."

"I know boss. I'm only curious. This campaign doesn't go on forever and when our contract expires it would be interesting to know how high the own value is in the eyes of others."

"Granted, but the current contract has a remaining duration of one and a half year. I don't think they want to wait that long."

Keiichi replied with a visible faked disappointment, "Pooh, you put all the fun out of it. We could have haggled for hours and had a lot of entertainment. But there you sit and ruin it all. I don't know if I can ever forgive you this." Thomas threw his hands in masterly played manner in to the air, asking no one special, "What have I done to deserve this?"

After that little episode, they began to settle for the night. According to the earlier agreement they sat double watches, one person aboard the tank and the second one in his 'mech linking the sensors to provide an even better security.

In this night I took the first watch, which expired without any incidents, so I spent some time, while observing my sensors, to have a little chat with Tenchi, who took the watch in the tank. After what I got from him as information, he had had a nearly normal live before he entered a certain shrine, which his grandfather were attended to.

His stories told me that the life on their "Earth" wasn't that different from the life of normal people at our own planets. They were backward, compared to us, from the technological level, but this only applied to their Earth. The surrounding space seems to bubble over with life and activity. As Tenchi stated, all of the female members of his group descended from other planets than earth, even from alien races, which explained their funny hair-colors, for they were real, not dyed. So we passed the night by telling us vice a vice stories from our home countries. After I got released from William I dropped instantly into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_2. April 3058, about 06:00 Terran Standard Time_

In the morning I woke from the buzzer in my cockpit, so the rest of the night has seemingly expired without any events so far. After stretching a little I left my 'mech in order to get myself a little breakfast. Normally we would have slept in our sleeping bags in tents. But under the given circumstances we dropped this habit in order to be as combat-ready as possible.

William was also around, so we did a little workout in order to flex our muscles, while Alicia and Virginia fetched their meals. This had become routine to us because so we could prevent the muscles from straining and preserve our fitness. After half an hour or so we stopped and got our breakfast, because Thomas had set our departure-time at 7 o'clock.

So we got a cat's lick to refresh us a bit and reentered our cockpit. Passing by we winked at the tank's crew, which had done their morning toilet. After activating all systems, I contacted Thomas, who kept the position the whole time in his mech and released him, so that he could get breakfast himself. For real emergencies we always kept some rations within our cockpit, but when ever possible we tried to evade them.

While Thomas gobbled down his share and threw some water in his face, I updated my files. As it seemed, Thomas has been in contact with our base, merely a quarter of an hour ago. The files he received had some routine details. Apparently company Alpha lost the last traces of the remaining clan forces yesterday in the late afternoon due the heavy woods up there. According to the transmissions they were last seen about 100 kilometers away of our current position and they would be hindered surely by the woods, but we all knew from experience how fast clan warriors could move, if they set their mind on it.

The last remaining active clan 'mech has been typified as a _Viper_. Even being 'only' a secondline 'mech in the clans arsenal, it would be nevertheless a tough customer. Probably equipped with targeting computers of its own and the usage of pulse lasers it could provide a deadly accurate fire. With a tonnage of 95 tons it would be also much heavier than any single 'mech in our unit. On the positive side remained that it would wear quite some battle damages from the fights before and our ER weapons got more range. Furthermore the woods would also cover effectively their powerarmor-equipped infantry, unless we would stumble over them, possibly literally.

'But first things first', I thought. At exactly 7 o'clock we set off again, taking our wedge formation with William in the lead. The position of the base was meant to be another 40 Klicks away, but in the light that the coordinates we got weren't that exact and with possibility of enemy forces in the surrounding we took our steps. Washu's modified sensors aboard the tank would play a nice benefit, because they weren't hindered by the minerals in the ground, so we were positive to find the base, if it should exist. It only might take some time, maybe even days.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908 2. April 3058, about 10:00 Terran Standard Time Aboard the Vedette tank, encoded as Delta Six

After Washu had given her a careful and extensive instruction, Mihoshi drove the tank. With her cheerful nature, it seemed that she almost had forgotten where they were. Her driving style was sometimes a little rough, because sometimes she'd flatten tree instead of evading them, but so far nothing catastrophic had happen.

The Masaki gang decided to let Mihoshi take care of this, so that Washu could relax a bit from driving. Sasami looked definitely better. She had done the most of the cooking so far, but just now she seemed to have recovered really from the happenings of the day before. Cuddling Ryo-Ohki she had a look on the passing landscape.

In the elapsed three hours since their departure they made an excellent way, covering almost the approximated 40 Kilometers. That sounded not much, but in the light that had passed extremely dense woods the whole company was glad to come this far. The speed had dropped significantly in the last half an hour, because all sensors were set on to maximum power. The leading mech with his special equipment was doing his best, but so far they got no glimpse of the promised base.

That was the second reason, why Washu was released from driving. She was tampering with her own Devices, cursing them soundlessly for being so ineffective. It was the best what she could have done, but it was not enough in her own eyes. In an area with a diameter of 5 kilometers around them, there was nothing other than their own tank plus the five 'mechs of their 'escort'.

Tenchi got a look over her shoulder and asked, "What do you think, Washu-chan? Are we maybe only hunting a shadow?"

Washu let a heavy, impatient sigh. "I don't know Tenchi. As far as it seems there is nothing but woods and the minerals in the earth. An odd combination of its own, but nothing what really matters for us at the given moment. I give my best, but not even I want to wager how long it could take 'til we find that base. But even if there isn't a base, we will only have to cover some days until we can retransfer back home. So don't loose your spirit... Hey, what's that? A nice little bleep there. Hmm, way to small for a base... Maybe some other mech? I think I should contact the others."

She reached for the microphone and called the commander of the mechs via laser, "Delta 1 for Delta 6, do you hear me?"

Thomas answered almost instantly the same way. "Delta 1 is hearing. What is it Ms. Washu?"

Under silent laughter from the Masaki gang, Washu clenched her teeth. "That's Washu-chan if you mind. I got some reading from a metallic mass, direction northwest. Apparently it seems to be too small for a base of the size you mentioned. Do you think it would be possible that it could be the mech you talk about? That one that got away from your other unit."

After several seconds Thomas answered, "I don't register anything. Are you sure that you did not get a sensor ghost?" "Yes, I'm positive about it", Washu replied. "I have a solid reading of it for now almost two minutes and I checked my equipment. It's at 320 degree in a distance of about 5 kilometers, moving slowly. The mass of it should be a bit below 100 metric tons. What do think about it?"

After some additional seconds Thomas was back again. "Sounds definitely like the expected _Viper_. The others have nothing at all on their sensors but we can't cover such a distance, especially under these circumstances. Just keep a sharp eye on it and alarm us if something changes. In the meantime we will ignore them so far, as long we are sure that they haven't detected us."

Washu nodded. "Ok, I will observe them, but maybe we should make some plans in advance."

"No sweat Ms. Washu, we will do our job as smoothly as usual", Thomas replied under a little laughter and broke the communication, while Washu was about to explode.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter EightDeep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_2. April 3058, about 18:00 Terran Standard Time_

After some other hours the whole unit came to a stop. We spent the whole afternoon searching for any traces, but so far we did not find anything. Realistically, we didn't expect to find the base at once, but as it seemed the clan forces were searching something too.

Thomas had ordered some overflights from our fighters (while the tank was safe under the trees with his ECM activated (which was so effective that even we who stood nearby were unable to detect the tank)), primary to get maybe some help to find the base.

But the air patrols either didn't find a thing. After releasing them to return to our base we took a little radio conference.

After Thomas asked for suggestions I inserted "So far I was unable to eavesdrop on their communication. I think that they reduced their sender's energy or use power-reduced lasers to prevent their com-traffic from spreading out, like us. Hell, they have to know that they are the last remaining clan forces on this planet. Even repeating the obviously I'd say they do know too that there might be something in this area. Their movement patterns speak for them self."

Virginia included after a briefest pause, "Also we must presume, that the clanners are aware of an unfriendly force nearby. They couldn't get any glimpses of us so far, but I wouldn't count on that they failed to notice our fighters; even our boys weren't searching for them. In the light of this I might suggest that we sleep in our vehicles. Their 'toads' are too dangerous in this environment to take any chances; if we know that they aren't that far away."

After another minute pause Washu inserted, "I second that notion. My scanners will be able to spot them when they approach, but let us play it safe. Anyway if I should spot anything irregular, you will hear from me." Thomas answered, musing, "At least we have an edge in the sensors, thanks to Ms. Washu's scanners..." "That's Washu-chan if you please." "...Washu-chan's scanners, so that we can evade them if we have to, or at least lay them a nice little ambush if we want."

Alicia stated, "Well, I will sleep about the plans of the surrounding terrain. Maybe I will spot something we mist so far. The Star League followed some basic concepts when building bases in most cases. Perhaps I can recognize some landmarks they liked to use when trying to hide something on the new maps from the over flights. Due my education I got some routine in this matter."

After the silence remained, Thomas concluded, "That seems to cover it so far. Tomorrow is another day with new chances. Any further ideas, suggestion or critics? Then let's have some supper."

I had to confess, that after two days with Sasami's cooking, it was not easy to relay on our rations. It didn't help the slightest bit that we had to eat them in our cockpit and therefore cooked only on some kind of camping gear.

After they set their watches, a relative silence came. Aboard the tank a discussion was going on. "Why on Earth don't they try to get rid of those 'clanners', if they really are a threat and be done with it?" Ryoko asked after they had put Sasami to sleep in the back compartment of the tank.

Washu shook her head. "As I understood Thomas has a strong suspicion that this 'clanners' may have a fairly sure notion where the base could be and only used a diversionary tactic to elude any other party so far after they accepted the possibility that there is one. Original Star League bases seem to have a nearly sacral meaning for them. And after this 'pirate invasion' rubbed this matter under their noses, Thomas thinks that they will take any possible step to take and secure the base."

She laughed, "As I understand this, they try to use this clanners as a kind of truffle pig. Maybe an unusual way of acting, but seemingly as least they think they know what they are doing. From the strategic point of view Thomas has nearly all advantages. The clanners might suspect them nearby, but due my scanners we _know_ exactly where they are. From the raw firepower the clanners are also completely outgunned. They may be born warriors, from what the others told us, but in a battle this helps only partly. From some comments I picked up, even if they should have exaggerated a little, I also suspect that at least some of our escort are experts in infiltration tactics and equipped the necessary tools to pull through such a job. Not to mention that the clanners have no way off world and Thomas could call for reinforcements if he thinks it's necessary. I think he discarded this option due our presence at least temporary, which we should be grateful for."

Aeka nodded. "So what do you think will happen?" the jurain princess asked.

"Entirely depends on who find this base first, I'd say", Tenchi inserted who had followed the talking in silence so far. "When these clanners get the base first, they try to infiltrate it and eliminate them, one way or the other. If we stumble across it before them, Thomas could order his unit to ambush them or drive them away which would not be easy, even if the 'clanners' are only half as determinate as we have been told." Tenchi frowned, "Thomas told us that it's not unheard of clanners who got captive, but mostly they prefer to die then to become POW's in the custody of people from the inner sphere. If we only could prevent an unnecessary bloodshed..." Washu nodded, deep in thoughts. "There might be a way actually, if we find the base first and can get there in time. With enough power and some minor modifications I might be able to do something about it. Perhaps it's definitely time to see how far Ryo-Ohki has recovered..."

Silently she went into the compartment where Sasami laid asleep, Ryo-Ohki beside her as usual. Without any noise Washu got up the cabbit gently and woke her, while returning to the others. "How are you feeling Ryo-Ohki?" the scientist asked, after putting her on the table, with an examining look. The meowing answers seemed to satisfy her. So Washu asked lightly with a smile, "How do you feel about a little adventure? I think we have something to do for you and Ryoko…."

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_2. April 3058, about 21:00 Terran Standard Time_

Sitting in my mechs cockpit I kept a regular glimpse on Washu's tactical transmission and the signals I got from the other mechs' sensors (a nice trick we used sometimes in the past when things heated up, to provide us a better sensor coverage of our camp). The clan forces seemed to rest too, because the movement of their bleeps had stopped an hour or so ago.

After I released Alicia from her watch she went straight for the maps. Instead of getting her rest early she brooded over the maps to find an answer somewhere. I mused that she might regret it tomorrow, but well, she was responsible for herself.

My thoughts returned to the clan force. One might say that their duel style of fighting would fit with our bushido codex, but the technological advantages of them in the beginning didn't allow fighting on even terms, even in the light that their commanders bid for the right of attacking by lowering the numbers of their attacking forces (the right of attacking belonged to the commander with the lowest unchallenged bid). Nearly unstoppable they crushed any resistance as the invasion started in 3050, but kept their own codex of fighting at least in the beginning.

Nearly eight years ago our capital World Luthien came under attack of the clans during their invasion. Only with the help of several elite mercenary regiments (who were lent from House Davion in an attempt to help the Draconis Combine without sending own troops into it, which Hanse Davion had promised) House Kurita was able to withstand, but it was a close call. This and losing whole star-systems to them made the clans the worst nightmare in the history of our nation. Even if I had not been on Luthien through the fights, I almost felt the same mix of hate, fear and respect for the clans.

An entirely other matter was Clan Smoke Jaguar which we were facing here. Fights, even the savage ones are one thing. But the Smoke Jaguars erased a whole city (Edo on the planet Turtle Bay) with millions of people from their orbiting warships after the heir of our ruler was freed by the local yakuza from a prison, where he was held from the clan without knowing his identity and sent off-world. The supreme warlord of the clans, the ilKhan called the action of erasing the city 'dezgra' which meant honourless in their terms, but that didn't help the killed people and it didn't help the slightest bit to decrease the determination of House Kurita to make the Jaguars pay for it.

The invasion of the clans had came to a sudden halt late in 3050, as the, at that time nearly unknown, Comstar military units challenged the clans into a fight about the fate of the Inner Sphere and stopped them in an epic battle. The outcome of this fighting marked the second major defeat of the clans (the first one was handed from Hohiro Kurita (after his escape from Turtle Bay), who commanded the Draconis Combine troops in the battle for Twycross) and earned the Inner Sphere an unsure armistice for 15 Years.

Being the things as they are, no one within the Inner Sphere counted on the truce really holding that long. All major powers of the Inner Sphere teamed up and reformed a new Star League not long ago. A fragile and sometimes unstable construct, but the only hope of survives the inevitable resuming of the fights. But this time the new first Star Lord decided to put the war right before the doors of the clans at their own homeworlds.

At this moment my sensors signaled me. One second there was a signal above us in the air, about two klicks south of us, a strong and near one like something I would expect from a whole dropship, but the next fraction of a second there was nothing left.

Alarmed I double-checked my equipment and the incoming transmissions from the other sources without finding anything. Baffled I contacted the tank, where Tenchi had the watch.

"Um, no, nothing so far on my display Keiichi", he answered. "Sorry. Are you looking for something special?"

I replied, "Iie, maybe I picked a sensor ghost. That's not unheard of, especially under these circumstances. I had hoped that Washu-chan would be able to enlighten me", I said with a smile.

Tenchi answered, "Sorry, but she has gone to bed. As it sounds from her snoring she sleeps as a log. Is it really that urgent?"

After a short considering I replied, "No, I think it can wait 'til tomorrow, because seemingly only my sensors get that signal. All other sources didn't get a thing." After I broke the communication I mused what might have troubled Tenchi, because his voice had sounded some kind of pressed. On the other hand I realized that it really could be a stressful situation to have two exhausting women like Aeka and Ryoko around nearly all the time. Also they had all the right to be a little upset after the last two days.

The image of a Washu snoring like a sawmill flickered through my mind and I had to laugh. Seemingly even the self-proclaimed greatest genius in the universe wasn't immune against some minor shortcomings. So I returned my attention back to the sensors, but that sensor-ghost didn't return and I continued my watch, while Alicia had gone to bed too in the mean time.

Deep Periphery, somewhere in the air above Planet TZ-908

_2. April 3058, about 21:20 Terran Standard Time_

Ryoko and Washu stood before their display aboard spaceship Ryo-Ohki. Washu did some last examinations on the ships and concluded, "Well, she's still a bit weakened, but she should be able to handle this little trip".

An affirmative meowing from their space-battleship, who materialized one of her crystal forms, concluded that matter.

"Fine", inserted Ryoko acidly. "But what's the big deal about this?"

Washu chided her, "Tststs, you really should listen at least sometimes to your mother, if she's trying to explain something."

"Don't be that supercilious at me. It isn't that hard to understand that you wanna use Ryo-Ohki's sensors."

"Oh! So you did get my point? Marvelous, after all that time I didn't have to explain you a matter over and over again. Maybe you aren't a hopeless case..."

Ryoko answered with a rude gesture and both laughed. "So you really think Ryo-Ohki's sensors could penetrate the ground far enough? And what do you want to search her? Remember, the earth is unusually rich of minerals. That could give even her a hard time to find something", Ryoko sobered.

"That's true, but only partly", Washu replied. "I would have agreed with you, if I was only planning to let her search for normal steel." She reached into her clothing and put a strange looking part of metal out of it, to let crystal Ryo-Ohki sniffing on it.

"But I thought a little in advance as usual, as it fits the greatest scientific genius in the universe. The fusion plants here require a special shielding against their emitting radiation. I cut the material here from the shielding of the tank's power plant. It's an alloy, which has to be produced, it can't be found normally. Depending on the size of the suspected base it has to have one or more large fusion plants. The required shielding would have a certain mass and I count on Ryo-Ohki and her sensor to find it."

"Wonderful", Ryoko answered. "And how do you plan to use this information, if we really should find that Star League remnant? As I understood, you won't make Thomas and his people suspicious or uneasy. So if you serve them the base on a silver plate, they will become a little upset, counting on their paranoia."

Washu nodded, "You are touching the one sore point in my plan. Somehow we have to herd them in the right direction without revealing too much. And it has to be very subtle, because of the very facts you mentioned. But remember, our sensors are way better than theirs. If I can't come out with another idea, we will relay on this fact. They are nevertheless used to see some miracles from us, especially me, paranoid or not. Keiichi and Thomas were very impressed with the repairing of the tank and I think we could pull it through if we can't come up with another, better solution. But first things first. If the base should be really located in the surrounding, we should be able to locate it throughout this night. If not, we will enlarge the searching area in the next night. But I have faith in our Ryo-Ohki." The meowing answer of their ship concluded it.

Deep Periphery, somewhere in the air above Planet TZ-908

_3. April 3058, about 00:40 Terran Standard Time_

A yawning Ryoko stretched her legs to relax her muscles. She and Washu had agreed upon to rotate the watch so that both could take turns to get a little sleep. Three hours of continuous searching had tired her, even if Ryo-Ohki did the most of the job. But the cabbit had rested the last two days due her semi-comatose condition and was adequately fit. Rubbing her burning eyes Ryoko realized that she would have to cover another hour before she could shift to Washu.

The little scientist slept on a couch, snoring softly. Ryoko shook her head about the sounding rest of Washu, smiling. "Well, what should I say? At least she's not that loud". She got up and walked up and down soundless, not to wake her creator/mother. After she teleported out of the tank with Washu and Ryo-Ohki in tow, they had done their best to escape any detection.

On the downside this security measure limited their own detection range, but they had agreed to play it safe. Ryo-Ohki might be hard to spot with any kind of radar, but a plain optical sighting might be enough to stir up some unpleasant questions. Due their knowledge of the position of the clan force they were able to evade them too, but not without a little spying on them.

What both had seen through Ryo-Ohki sensors was enough to confirm most of what Thomas, Keiichi and the others had told about them. They had seen the mech, damaged from the engagements before and also seen the powerarmored infantry, nicknamed as 'toads'. Even out of their respectable armour they towered clearly above 7 feet and at least 250 kilograms with the resulting bulging muscles, looking every inch as tough customers.

But as they counted there were only seven left of them plus the damaged mech, they were repairing it with the pilot. Ryoko's suggestion to put them out of their misery at once was countered immediately by Washu not to interfere more than necessary. At least the scientist prevailed and they left unnoticed after a while.

"I hope we don't waste the night for nothing", Ryoko 'spoke' silent over their mind link. Suddenly Ryo-Ohki signaled on the display and over their bond. "Hello", Ryoko said quiet. "Seems as we found something as last." Washu woke straight away as she turned at her and yawned gigantic.

"Have a look on it", Ryoko invited her. "Seems as your plan succeeded. Ryo-Ohki picked something that looks definitely like your sample."

Washu joined her on the display. "Yes, look on that diagram. Ryo-Ohki, go deeper, we need more accuracy." Both women stood silently as the cabbit cut their altitude. Considering, Washu said, "Depending on what Alicia stated about Star League bases, this might be even a "Brian Cache". That thing is huge. From the mass of reactor shielding Ryo-Ohki is detecting, there must be some real monsters of fusion reactors. Also there have to be large caverns, no other way to get some reading like this. And Ryo-Ohki sees a high percentage of high-grade alloys. If this isn't the base we were looking for, then we will never find it."

Ryoko inserted after a silent second, "What do you think? Shall we have a little look at it from the inside?" Washu shook her head, "I'm tempted, but me thinks we shouldn't do it. There should not be anything to fear for us, but we might leave traces, which would be very hard to explain. We will take everything we can get with Ryo-Ohki sensors and scanners from the outside and then retread to the others. What about you catching some Z's? There is no need for us to do this together."

"I already feared you would never ask. I have to confess that I'm really tired", Ryoko answered, yawning. "Our merry little trip has become real adventures", the former space pirate said, reaching for the couch. "Sometimes I think we got more than we bargained for."

"Don't be annoyed. The time we got inside the base and restarted the reactors it's only a matter of hours, at the most one day 'til we store enough energy for the voyage home", Washu concluded, looking at the readings on the display. But her last words faded unheard, because Ryoko was already asleep.

Washu turned her head and wondered not the first time, how gentle Ryoko could look when she was asleep. One might have problems to suspect under her bullying, even sometimes annoying personality more than meets the eyes.

With a shrug the Scientist returned to her work and ordered the cabbit-spaceship into a lowest altitude flight. Refreshed from her sleep, she took all steps not to miss the slightest bit of information she was able to catch. After nearly an hour she had all she needed and they returned to the campsite.

Out of range from the sensors Washu grounded Ryo-Ohki and a swearing Ryoko had to interrupt her slumber, so that she could teleport them back aboard their tank. After that a gigantic yawning Ryoko head straight-ahead for the compartment to resume her sleep.

Under a smile Aeka, who had the watched, suppressed a biting remark. Why wasting a perfect insult, if the receiver was unable to appreciate the effort?

Washu asked her, "Everything ok so far?"

With a smile the princess answered, "Yes Washu-chan, except that your departure wasn't that unnoticed as we expected. Keiichi seemed nearly to fall out his cockpit, because he got some readings on his sensors. As I understood, interestingly, only on his own devices and not from the tactical input the others provided. Nevertheless Tenchi was able to talk him into not alarming the whole camp. At last Keiichi believed in the sensor-ghost theory, even if he tried to contact you personally."

"Seems that little Keiichi loves to temper with his devices and achieves remarkable results. The target for Ryoko's teleport and Ryo-Ohki's morphing was meant to be at least 20 percent out off his reaching", the scientist mused. "Maybe I should do something about it."

Aeka looked shocked at her. "You mean to sabotage his equipment?"

Washu laughed. "No. Not at all. To be honest I would like to improve his sensor-suite a teeny-weeny bit. And include a backdoor to his computer so that I can 'persuade' it to ignore us in the future if we choice to. But I think that will be unnecessary. We found the base and it's really huge. From the readings Ryo-Ohki got, we can safely assume to find several big fusion reactors there."

"You think we are about to go home?" the jurain princess asked.

Again Washu mused when Aeka might have started to think about earth, especially the Masaki-residence as "home". "Don't get overconfident", she tried to break Aeka. "I only said that there are reactors, but that means not necessarily that they are in a working condition. As you remember what Alicia said, they might be mothballed since centuries. I didn't inspect them visually, because I tried not to leave any traces that might stir some unpleasant questions. If the reactors should be wracks, it might take more time to repair them than to wait 'til my transporter collected enough energy to enable a retransfer. First things first. As soon as we get into the base, we will be able to inspect all matters and make according plans. As Alicia mentioned there would be more than enough spare parts to repair all critical components at least twice, but if it should take to much time for us, we will simply wait. Nevertheless I'm positive, that we will be able to use the installations, so don't loose your spirit. With a little luck we will sleep in our own beds tomorrow evening."

"Hai, I will try to keep your words in mind", the princess replied.

"Which leaves us still one problem", Washu mused.

Aeka smiled. "I'm positive, that the greatest scientific genius in the universe will be able to solve it, won't she." Washu laughed, "Are you trying to flatter me? Well, thank you, but it's unnecessary. The only thing to bothers me in the given moment is, how we can herd Thomas and his people in the right direction? Some of them are nearly paranoid, so I want to be subtle as possible. We do certainly have a good relationship with them, but if we brush those guys against the grain we can get a wagon-load of trouble." After a second Washu continued, "But we will see what to do later. May be a little nap will inspire me." With that she followed Ryoko into the compartment, where the former space-pirate was already asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter NineDeep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_3. April 3058, about 06:30 Terran Standard Time_

After a refreshing slumber I woke in the morning and left my cockpit after a little chatter with Alicia and Mihoshi who had had the last watches. As I reached the ground I did my standard workout, to get the stiffness out of my muscles. In the light that I had to wait another half an hour 'til breakfast I walked over to the tank to have a look how things were going. As I reached the hatch it was opened from the inside and I faced a gigantic yawning Ryoko.

"Ach du Scheiße, ich glaub' Sie will mich fressen!" It slipped over my lips as I fell into German as I did it on rare occasions (a result of an over-extensive foreign language learning program I underwent in my youth as a preparation for my later occupation).

"Nani?" a baffled Ryoko replied, who didn't understand a single word.

"Nothing special", I waved off. "Only an instinctive exclamation of my own. Nothing to worry about." With a very suspicious glance she let it pass. "Hello everybody there", I called into the inside. "How are you?"

A nasty smirking Washu approached and answered, "Good so far. But you shouldn't worry. Ryoko might be an omnivore like the rest of us, but me thinks that the risk for you to be swallowed or eaten by her is really minimal." Under the resulting omnious glance of Ryoko I nearly started to sweat.

"Whatever you say", I tried to change the subject. "But I have here a little mystery. Yesterday in the evening I got some strange readings I want you to see. I tried to contact you directly after the incident, but as I heard you've gone already to bed, snoring like a chainsaw", I concluded smiling.

Washu looked very surprised. "I'm never snoring!" she declared but was overridden from Ryoko's voice in the background, "Bloody sure you are doing." Making a funny face Washu decided to drop the matter and returned to my request. "I checked in the morning our sensor recordings without finding something which should haven't been there, after Tenchi told me from your little conversation. But if you want I can recheck your records as well."

I handed her a disc with the data and said, " I'm nearly positive that it was only a sensor-ghost, but I try to play it sure. Since obviously I was the only one to get something, maybe my equipment really needs an overhaul..." I shrugged my shoulders.

Washu nodded. "Right after breakfast and our departure I will have a look at it. I can't promise anything, but I will examine it very closely." After a thankful waving I left for the campfire, where Sasami was already at work to get some breakfast.

Washu turned and asked the other, "Do I really snore?" Which was answered by a collective nodding.

"Not very loud or intensive, but as a matter of fact you do", Aeka answered with an apologetic smile. "At home you almost always sleep in your laboratory, so we didn't notice it so far. We can't even say that you always snore, but you did at least in the last night. Maybe only an effect of the pressure we are under."

Washu scratched her head. "How embarrassing. Perhaps I should take steps against it..." Her troubled face provoked some smiles from the others, each one getting an individual mental picture of how Washu might 'work' on a solution for this matter.

Obviously Washu got something over her mind-link to Ryoko, which resulted in a very unfriendly glimpse onto the former space-pirate, who brushed it aside. So they sat for the campfire, ready for breakfast.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_3. April 3058, about 07:30 Terran Standard Time_

After sharing a delicious as always breakfast, they sat together (Virginia was in her mech, but present via com). Alicia opened the discussion. "I double-checked my database for known Star League Bases, to get something to work with. So far I found none of their favorite landmarks, but that doesn't mean necessarily that they did not put it in the surrounding. If, and I mean if, they got some special interests within the base, they might even evade the standard procedures, in order to ensure its secrecy. Given the fact that we are way from the known sphere of influence of the Star League, there has to be something very special. Look on it; alone the costs to provide this base with the necessary supply would have cost a fortune when the base dates back into the Star League era, before the Exodus of Kerensky. Placing a base out here is a kind of logistic nightmare. The only way to keep such a construct running under the given circumstances is to build it at least semi-independent. Any other option is unthinkable. So I decided not only to check the pictures our fighter-jockeys got from their over-flights, but also the pictures our Dropships made while closing for the planet. Relying on them I spotted three places in a diameter of 500 kilometers where I could suspect a base. It's nothing I could swear an oath on. I had to work with some even obscure parameters, like unexpected irregularities of plant growing."

Alicia shook her head. "That stuff is really able to give you the headaches. Interestingly one of the spots I separated as suspicious is nearly in our neighborhood, only a mere 50 klicks away. It would take us only half a day to reach this palace and to verify it", she said. While spreading out a map with some remarks from her and some circles on it the whole company surrounded her, partly finishing the meal.

Alicia pointed on a green point on her map, "That's our position, the red point over there stand for the clanners." She unfolded a second map with a larger scale. "On this one we are here and the blue circles are the spots where something might be." She looked up to face us. "But without any further data, there is nothing more I can do and what I had concluded so far might even be a bit of obscure."

Thomas pondered some seconds, his face in thoughtful wrinkles. Then he shook his head. "We only have time to check that one spot here", he said, pointing on the nearest spot. "Remember we still have a time-schedule to hold. I would bet at the best two days more and our honorable Major will order Beta-company to assist us in hunting down and eliminating the rest of the clan forces, ignoring a base which can't be found. That means we will go there, have a look on it and see what's there." He twitched his shoulders apologetically as he looked at Tenchi, Washu and the others. "If it's only were for us, I would like to spend some additional days, even weeks to help you. But unfortunately I still have some orders to follow. If we don't find anything up there, we might find another possibility what to do, but in the given moment I fear that's all we can do without revealing your presence. Which is out of question as I understood you."

This half-question was followed by a collective nodding from the Masaki-Gang. "Well, then we will make it so. If this isn't the place of the base", he said, pointing on the map. "We have to get rid of the clan force and get back to our ship. At least you can keep the tank and we will provide you some maps and maybe additional supplies, so that if even we will have to leave, you will be able to continue your search. Sorry, but that's all we can do for you so far."

Washu answered after a look in the face of the others of her groups, "Thanks Thomas, that's more that we can ask for under this circumstances and we are very grateful for your support so far, not mentioning the rescue from the pirates. You've done for us more than enough and if the base will be not located there, we will search on our own as your suggested, until we find it or, what will be more likely, my transporter regains enough energy on its own to enable our retransfer."

Thomas nodded. "Well, I think this conclude the matter for now. Let's get started, we have to cover some distance. The terrain will get better, but the earlier we get there the better it will be."

"Sorry to interrupt you, boss", Virginia's voice came over the radio. "It might be nothing, but accordingly to the signals I got from Washu's sensors the clanners are moving. Not exactly the direction we are heading, but close enough to make it likely that we stumble upon each other."

"Wonderful, exactly what we need", Thomas said with heavy sarcasm. "OK, folks. Let's get moving. I want to try to be up there before the clanners can. William, you will take the lead. The rest in wedge formation with the tank in the middle. Keiichi, you keep a close watch to find and hack a possible com-traffic of that Clanners, as little as it might be. I know as you said that they would have started to change their codes on regular base. But I want to know what they are going to do, even before they know it themselves if you find a possibility to do it"

"Wakarimasu, I will do my very best, as usual", I answered heading for my mech.

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_3. April 3058, about 09:30 Terran Standard Time_

Making a good speed they resumed their trail. "Marvelous how it went", Ryoko mused. "You didn't even have to do the slightest bit and they walk right in the direction they have to. In my eyes that goes far beyond any lucky chance."

Washu shook her head. "The procedure Alicia used may be primitive, even archaic, but it was used on Earth with quite some success. The ground compositions do have an effect on the plants growing there. So you can find with little effort quite something under the right circumstances. The problem is that you need a lot of experience to know how to look on the pictures you got. Alicia seems to have a nearly archaeological education. Being the things as they are I would nevertheless agree with you."

Washu pointed with a little gesture of her head at Sasami, who was playing with the cabbit in the compartment of the tank. "We may be a really long way from home, but me thinks we aren't completely out of the reach of Tsunami", she explained with low voice. "You know the jurain goddess seldom works openly, but maybe she did a little in the background and 'helped' Alicia a bit by finding the right things. But we can't be sure of it, unless you plan to ask Tsunami personally the next time we see her. I like the suggestion that a goddess watches friendly over our steps, but it didn't affect the matter what we like or not. The only thing what counts is that we are on the right way and all other has to wait until we get there."

"Geez, aren't we in a sunny mood or what's wrong with you?", Ryoko asked a little irritated.

Washu shook her head. "I'd hoped we could get there and do our business without any interfere from this clanners. You've seen them, too. They are tough guys and they mean business if they set their mind on it. I'm not sure if Thomas' plan to set an ambush for them will succeed. He will have an edge thanks to my scanners, but I would feel much better if we would be able to avoid any unnecessary fights. Just one lucky shot from them might cause a lot of trouble and I'm not able to build an energy-shield, not even for us alone, because there are some components that I can't build with the scrap I have to use." Again she shook her head.

Ayeka and Tenchi nodded in silent agreement. "But maybe you worry to much Washu-chan", the Jurain princess said. "We can do only our best and prepare us so far. You can't be ready for every possibility, small as it can be. Not to mention at least Tenchi, Ryoko and myself will be able to erect a forcefield, even it will be a small one. So we aren't that defenseless, not to mention our professional Bodyguards out there."

Washu answered with a rueful smile. "You may have a point there, but it's almost natural for me to analyze and question everything. Well, we will see what awaits us."

Deep Periphery, somewhere on Planet TZ-908

_3. April 3058, about 14:30 Terran Standard Time_

After several hours they were about to get near the base, but so were the clanners. Thomas was forced to hold a little chat how to proceed while we walked on.

"We can forget to get to the place without been registered from them", Alicia said. "They might not have detected us so far, but that can change any minute."

"Hmm, do we have the slightest chance to set an ambush?", Thomas asked.

"According to our plans we are running out of luck in that case, boss", she answered.

"Damn, maybe I should have called an air-strike against them", our commander swore.

I interrupted him before he could use a wider selection of his profanities. "Don't wail about spilled milk. This can't be changed and who knows what it is good for. Our primary objective is to get rid of those clanners. We can't ambush them and we won't allow them to reach the base before us. That doesn't let us many options." "Right", Virginia agreed. "Let's get them and kick their asses right into next Friday."

"My, my, my. Aren't we in a bloody mood again, Virginia?", William asked, who lead the way of our unit. "Remember, what ever we do, we still have to think about the tank. Those vehicles are a little fragile against weapon fire. Even two or three 'toads' are more than able to kill it. So don't become some kind of berserk. We have a good chance to get them all without getting one of us shot, but as I said, remember Washu and the others aboard their tank."

"Which we would be grateful for", Washu, replied dryly. "If it comes to worse, we will nevertheless be able to defend us, as your might remember."

Thomas disagreed. "Might it be as you said, but that didn't help you as the pirates held some of you as hostage. So we will play as safe as we can. We didn't drag you all the way up here, only to see you shot by some miserable clanners. You will keep your tank away from any fights and we will have a watch about you. Maybe we won't be able to separate one of our mechs as a guard for you, but if the shit hits the fan we will do what's necessary to keep them away from you."

"Well, I hope you will be able to get it done without Keiichi get his head hit again", Ryoko's voice came over the com.

"Don't worry about me. As a matter of fact I got some reserve Aspirin up here in my cockpit, just in case", I answered smiling.

"Not to mention that some people claim that his head does not belong to the parts of his body that are necessary to keep him alive", Alicia inserted, unasked, with an invisible, but audible sweet smile.

Virginia broke in. "Thomas, seems as the clanners found us at least. They started to advance straight against us with full speed. Distance is about two mile. ETA less than four minutes. Let us find some open place, where we can weed them out."

A quarter of an hour later the matter had been settled. The fight had been short and furious, for the clanners saw no other chance and preferred to die than become prisoners. The _Viper_ fell first, shredded into worthlessness by both _Nemesis_ and the _Man'o'War_, who relied on their range advantage to destroy the already heavy mauled mech. But the Clan 'mech did not die easily and not without doing some damage of his own. The 'toads' were a different matter; because of the 'relatively' small silhouette they were no easy targets for mech weapons. Two of them nearly managed to get to the tank, which they spotted as the easiest target. One got hit from the tank's main gun, which was manned from Washu, while the other received a kick from Thomas' _Hatchetman_. Seemingly he learned quite some tricks back on Solaris and then the fight was over, leaving the field for us.

"Why didn't they surrender? They had to see that they didn't stand a chance against you", a slightly shaken Washu asked.

Thomas shook his head. "As I said before, mostly all clanners are fanatics to the boot, but Clan Smoke Jaguar is the worst of them all. They were so pigheaded in their superiority above us decadent 'Innerspheres' that they even not consider surrender as an option, at least most of them."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter TenDeep Periphery, Planet TZ-908, Star League Base FGz 2

_3. April 3058, about 21:30 Terran Standard Time_

As we gained access into the base, after tampering a little with the code-locked door we found in the aftermath, we became aware of its real dimensions. "Boys, that thing is huge", Virginia exclaimed round-eyed. Alicia seemed to be at least a little baffled; even though she got the best background of us concerning Star League relicts. It took us quite some time to reach the central, guided by one of Washu's electronic miracles, a tiny looking hand scanner with possibilities which let me get green with envy. That device let her spot all vital areas in a fashion as if she hadn't done anything else her whole life.

As we had presumed the complete installation was without power. The fusion plants were present, but held no hydrogen as a security measure. The builder of this station had foreseen this case and equipped the base with water-powered (due a subterranean river) electrolysis-station, which was a genius stroke. How the turbine had survived the centuries was a mystery to us, but gave proof to the engineering abilities of a long lost age. Nearly without any problems the turbine worked and we had to decide how to proceed.

"Forget about the primary reactors, it would take us days to get these monsters going. But Washu found a much smaller, secondary fusion plant in the diagram, which might suit her needs fine", I informed Thomas.

He shook his head and asked, "And were did our walking miracle went?"

Ryoko inserted, "She left with Tenchi and Alicia in order to check the insulation and shielding of the given reactor. She said she would play it safe instead of risking a blown-off fusion reactor."

Thomas again shook his head, smiling. "That's fine with me. At least as long as I'm in the same building."

"If that's not a grave understatement, then I don't know one", William said. "Labeling this complex as a mere 'building'..."

"Point made", Thomas replied. "But sooner or later we have to inform our HQ. How long might it take to check the reactor, produce enough hydrogen, make the reactor work and gather enough energy to make your transfer?", our commander asked, facing Ryoko and both jurain princesses.

"To answer your questions in the line you asked, I have following to say", a voice said and Washu entered the room with a smile, nearly as big as herself. "The reactor is double-checked and safe. Nice construction. Slept quite some centuries and is in nearly perfect condition nevertheless. The production of hydrogen started also and looks fine, too. Due the circumstance that we need only a relatively low volume it might take only two, at the most three hours to collect as much hydrogen as we need. In this time it will be no sweat for me to modify my remote control and reprogram the coordinates. I would say give me four hours and we should be gone."

Thomas nodded. "No problem with me, even if it took you about seven or eight hours. But as I said we are nearly at the end of the timeframe we got. Just another day, then we have to leave or call in the others to show them the base. That will give us extra time, but it would be no good for you."

"Relax Thomas", I inserted over my shoulder. "You heard that genius. She said four hours, so can bet she will make it in three, at the most", I said, studying a graphic floor plan of the installation on a terminal.

"You restarted the whole server system?", Thomas asked with an inquiring raised eyebrow.

"Iie, that would have used too much energy. I selected only one server to power with a generator. According to the plans we found it should be one of the core systems and so far it looks fine. As soon as we got more energy we can possibly power the whole system, but at the given moment I work with what I've got."

"Anything special you could extract so far?", Thomas asked, closing in slightly interested.

"You can bet on that. As Alicia presumed this was a premier base and build out here with an intention. Seemingly they searched a place for a scientific orientated facility. To be more specific military scientific."

"What do you mean? Did you found some valuable Data?", Thomas asked.

"Bloody sure I did", I grinned back. "Looks like a real Jackpot to me. I'm only on the beginning, but I would say that this base might contain some real surprises for us. But I found also some details, which disturbed me a bit. Seemingly this base was even stripped and relocated before the Exodus of Kerensky. But that's not the only thing which is some kind of mystery."

"They stripped more or less the whole base and left such information within their computers? Sounds a little dubious to me", Thomas said, shaking his head.

I turned my chair and faced my commander. "You might be right, if the Data would have been in the normal memory. But they purged the whole System as they left, including the Backup system. But someone got sloppy or didn't know that the system got a hidden secondary Mirror-server and failed to purge it also. It took me quite some time to locate it after I stumbled across some hints, but the effort paid off. I didn't find any clue where they planned to head after their departure, but seemingly didn't destroy the installation because they wanted to have some hidden ressources. My best guest would be that someone got wind from General Kerensky's plans, but didn't want to be part of it."

Thoughtfully Thomas massaged the ridge of nose. "Do you want to tell me that quite some hundred of top Scientist's with the appropriate equipment disappeared right into thin air? I know they got a real chaos back in that time, after the assassination of the last Star Lord and the liberation of Terra from Amaris and his pack. But I do really have my doubts if anybody would have been able to pull through such a stunt."

I nodded, but added, "You would be right, normally. But as far as I can say from the bits and pieces, this base was way from being normal. I don't have the necessary Data to speculate, but I think that someone in the right position redirected quite some money and other ressources in this project. I would even doubt, granting that I lack the evidence to proof it in the given moment, that this installation was the only part of this matter. At least they got another place where they headed after their departure. And to answer you question, it isn't that hard to fake the loss of ships. To hell, according to the historical documents, whole divisions got lost without the slightest trace of their remaining."

Thomas reconsidered some seconds and answered, "Point made. As soon as we get the system as whole back to working condition, we will extract as much as we can. Bit by bit if necessary. But possibly we should wait 'til we got our technician staff over here. Which would mean to wait 'til Washu and the other have gone home."

Virginia, who had remained silent, inserted, "Should be piece of cake for Keiichi to hack this piece of junk. Remember the time he cracked the system of the training complex..."

I had a very hard time to keep my face plain straight while a pained expression crossed over the face of our commander. Washu who stood nearby the whole time, following our conversation, raised an inquiring eyebrow. Alicia, who had entered the central at that moment made a real show of keeping a demonstratively innocent face while I pretended to be fully occupied with the computers.

Thomas let a heavy sighed. "Just to humor you, Washu-chan. The incident dated back to beginning of our merry little unit. They put us through some tests to evaluate our skills. Given my background from Solaris with the ranking list of mechfights there, I should have been naturally one of the best pilots. Seeing my performance, Keiichi took some steps with the computers of the simulators to even the chances. After they started the simulator I faced a pilot who surpassed my skills a bit, so I lost after a tough battle. Especially tough for me", Thomas grinned in the memory. Eyeing me with a nasty smile he concluded. "The person responsible for the incident faced afterwards, as I may remember right, a commendation and a reprimand."

"A odd combination", Washu observed. "Why both?"

"The commendation for an innovative solution of a problem and the superior use of my skills, the reprimand for cheating in an official training fight. Seemingly they did not know what to do at the given moment and decided to give me both barrels. Since that day our Thomas here knew the meaning of the phrase "Kobayashi Maru test" from the bottom of his heart", I answered.

"Sounds like fun to me", Ryoko commended with a huge smile.

"Maybe", I said, turning my chair at her. "But at the next fight they kept a very close eye on me. So there was no way for me to pull through another trick. I was able to give Thomas quite a fight, but in the end inevitably I lost."

"But you learned enough since that time to go toe on toe with clan mechwarriors, even their frontline pilots", Thomas stated. "And I relearned that day never ever to underestimate an opponent."

"Hai, we came quite a way since those days", I answered. "But nevertheless the mystery of this base remains. It would take quite some days to scan the Data of this complex even superficially as soon we got the computer back online. My best guess would be that Colonel Jagelowsk is going to order to copy the whole database and examine it on way to the next Target. Maybe she will even try to disable or destroy the base in whole. I think she wouldn't like the notion of such a big base in our back."

Alicia inserted, "That might be, but I doubt that it really would happen. As soon as Comstar will get wind of this, they would only be too pleased to detach a garrison in order to ensure this installation. Also I'm quite sure that they will pay quite a reward."

"Appealing to the greed?" Thomas asked smiling. "It might be, that will be of interest in the decision-making, but that doesn't matter to us now. We will report the finding of the base and the Colonel will take care of the rest. What ever the private opinion of us all is."

"Hai Thomas-san", William inserted. "But in the light that the whole show is more or less run by Comstar it might be a valid point."

"True", Thomas answered. "But the commanding field officer is Colonel Jagelowsk, so the decision is hers. She might consider her options, but if she decided to erase the base it will be gone. It might even be that she would have to answer Comstar afterwards", he resumed with a glance at Alicia. "But if she says "Blast that Thing"..." He twitched his shoulders.

Following the conversation with half an ear, I still was searching in the computers for further interesting Data. Letting a whistle I knit my brows. "Thomas? If you can spare a minute?", I asked him.

"Found another mystery?", he came over to my console.

"Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless you should have a look at it"; I said shifting a little to the side, so that he might see on the display what I dug out.

"What the heck..." it slipped out his mouth 'til he regained balance.

"Any secrets between you two?", Alicia asked, coming over to my console, only to be transfixed after a look on the blueprints I extracted from a long forgotten server.

"What so interesting there, that you all look like somebody who stumbled over a treasure chest?", Ryoko asked, floating in the air above us after a teleportation.

"Maybe that's right what we've done", William said from the other side, which has joined us at the display. "I've seen quite some Variants of the _Marauder_ Mech, but not such a Monster."

"Jesus, look on that specifications", Alicia exclaimed nearly shocked. "A 75 tons _Marauder_ with such a speed and a weaponry of... What on Earth does "X-Ray Large Laser" mean?"

"I didn't have the foggiest. At least not now. But according to the following Data, it's a shiny little thing with the more than doubled range of a standard Large Laser, even 32% more than a clan ER Large Laser. The punch of this thing is nearly impressive. Seemingly also double than a clan Large Laser. A little heavier and bulkier than a standard Large Laser. Also quite some more heat. But if you put all parameters into account..."

"It could be the worst nightmare for the clans since their Exodus from the Inner Sphere", Thomas completed.

"How did you find THIS one?" William asked.

"Pure luck, a sloppy sysop back at this time and/or a dazzled Tech or Scientist I would guess. I would bet that someone mislaid this file while saving it. You know how easy it is to mistype a filename or the name of a server-drive. Why the sysop didn't erase it? Hm, maybe he was really sloppy or he couldn't find it. I had to work hard to extract it, but I think it was worth the afford."

Thomas nodded. "As soon as we got Washu-chan and the others out of here you first priority is to restart as much as you can from the computer core. Then you take apart every little bit you can lay you hands on. I want a full report of the system ASAP."

"Wakatta Thomas", I answered, flexing my fingers. "But this could take some days."

"I think so, too. But as long the Colonel doesn't counter my orders your business is to get as much out of this system as possible. How long will it take you to get the computer core back online?" Thomas asked.

After a quick calculation I replied. "I can't guarantee it, but it shouldn't take longer than four hours. But if components are defect it would take longer, naturally. So far the complex looked mothballed by professionals, so I don't expect real difficulties. Maybe an over-aged component here or there, but nothing fatal."

I looked on the watch. "But first let us get Washu-chan and the others back home where they belong."

Washu looked back with a smile of her own. "You seem to be really excited. Is this Data that valid?"

William answered her. "I would bet three months of salaries on it. The files our Keiichi here stumbled over are 300 years old, but they are nevertheless in front of the advanced technique available to us. If you think a little further, how far this people may have come with their research. They maybe had never to go through the breakdown of the Star League and a civil war. Imagine want they might have achieved in that time...", he let his sentence trail off.

"Sounds impressive. How high do you think are the changes that you will be able to find some traces of them?", Washu asked.

"I don't have a clue", I replied. "But if there is any possibility, we can't ignore it. If we want to stand a chance against the clans we will have to take nearly everything we can lay our hands on. The truce with them is very uneasy and no one really expect it to hold."

"But that shouldn't worry you Washu. That's our part and after we sent you all together back where you really belong, we will be free to call in some additional people to intensify the search", Thomas stated, just as Tenchi and Sasami entered the room.

"Washu-chan, the indicator you applied of the fusion plant signaled that your remote control gathered enough energy. This means we are ready to depart", the young man said with a look in the round.

After some seconds of silence Washu answered, "So that's it. I must confess that I like the notion to sleep in my own bed instead of camping in a tank."

"Well, as I understood you, you planned for some kind of adventure vacation. I would say you found some. Even if I must admit that you maybe got a little more than you bargained for", Thomas said with a faint smile.

Laughing, Washu answered. "That is one of the biggest understatements I've ever heard", she said as they proceeded through the door. "I might be able to start to enjoy this world, but I prefer to live in our own dimension, thank you. Yours is sometimes a little to... lively for the sake of my mind. What are you going to do?"

Thomas shrugged. "As I said we are under contract with Comstar and his Explorer Corps. This mission will still take some months, 'til we will get home. Nobody knows what the future will bring, but we've got a job to do. I presume we will stay here some days. After we extract the data we will leave and follow the mission plans."

I couldn't resist inserting, "But for myself I would like to see your world. From your tales I picked up things which let me see our world a little dull, even profane compared to where you come from."

Alicia snorted. "Be careful what you wish for. You might actually get it."

I grinned back. "Do you want to turn the table on me? But you're right. Even if dreams come true, they might be nightmares. But nevertheless their tales sound like fun, at least some of them."

So the whole party of us strolled down to the hallway where we had parked the tank and joined the rest. Washu gathered the others around her after we all exchanged some handshakes. Manipulating her remote control she spent some moments. "Well we are ready to go. We are most grateful for your assistance and hope that we will someday be able to repay it. So don't get your self shot in the meantime."

"Nothing to fear there Washu-chan, you know *Unkraut vergeht nicht*", I replied.

Thomas shook his head. "That guy is the last nail to my coffin."

After a smile Washu nodded a last time to us and keyed some instructions into her device. And in a blinding flash of light they left, taking the tank with them.

"What a pity", Thomas said. "I almost hoped she would forget about that vehicle."

"And leaving all her improvements behind? Maybe let them falling into wrong hands? I've known her only for some days, but I knew it better than the count on such thing. But we don't stand with empty hands. What we found up in the computers will be most helpful, trust me. We will give the clans one hell of a time, if we will be able to use the buildings and use the toys here."

So the five of us left the empty hallway, heading again for the central to call in the rest of the operation.

EPILOGUE:

"Whew, say what you want. I'm glad to be back home again", Ryoko said, floating in her favorite spot.

"Amen to that", Aeka seconded. "It wasn't all bad there, but I prefer to be back here where we belong."

Again Washu thought about when the princess might have started to think about Earth as her home, or at least the Masaki Residence. Then after a shrug she included, "That's partly right for me too. But if we ever want to go back there, I was able to fix the time/space coordinates. So if we want to visit them or invite them to us, there will be no problem, at least from the technical side. I added some devices to my N-Space folder so it will be easier next time. As you might have noticed I was able to spare us the inconveniences we faced earlier. "

Ryoko groaned. "Thanks, Washu, but no thanks. I don't want to end under the feet of some huge mechas. The only mecha action I prefer is in TV."

Before Washu could answer, Sasami called from the kitchen that supper was ready. Yes, it was good to be back at home she concluded silently.


End file.
